Perceived Health Symptoms Research Articles

Relating air quality and other factors to comfort and health related symptoms reported by passengers and crew on commercial transport aircraft (ASHRAE RP-1262)

Passenger and flight crew concerns over the negative impact of the aircraft cabin environment on health and comfort have lingered for years. During flight, passengers and crew can experience reduced atmospheric pressure, low relative humidity, and potential air quality degradation, which could lead to adverse health complaints. The goal of this project was to investigate the potential link between perceived health symptoms and discomfort and aircraft cabin environmental conditions and human factors. Passengers and crew completed validated health and comfort surveys on 130 domestic and international flights across varied aircraft, durations, and seasons. Environmental conditions and airborne levels of contaminants were measured during 80 of these flights. Extremes in cabin temperature or degraded air quality parameters led to higher rates of passenger discomfort. Odds ratios were higher for several adverse health symptoms for certain aircraft types and durations, while ventilation rates were positively correlated with discomfort and adverse health symptoms. Median levels of CO, CO2, and ozone were below established exposure limits. Results from this study help further our knowledge of aircraft comfort and can help airlines and industry agencies determine the most critical impacts on health and comfort to better inform standards to improve passenger and crew experiences.

Unfriendly customer behaviors and employees’ psychological capital: the role of health symptoms and positive humor events

This study examined the indirect effect and moderators that may explain the link between unfriendly customer behaviors and workers’ psychological capital with a sample of 380 employees. We hypothesized that perceived health symptoms would have an indirect effect on the link between unfriendly customer behaviors and psychological capital. We also hypothesized a moderated mediation model, in which positive humor events would moderate the indirect effect. Results show that the negative association between unfriendly customer behaviors with psychological capital was due to an increased level of perceived health symptoms. Moreover, positive humor events moderated the link between unfriendly customer behaviors and perceived health symptoms, such that the link was stronger when the frequency of positive humor events was low to moderate. This study addresses a major gap in the positive psychology literature by attempting to examine why unfriendly customer behaviors relate to decreased psychological capital and what factors influence in this relation. Practical implications are further discussed.

The association between perceived health symptoms and academic stress in Spanish Higher Education students

University life can be associated to mental and emotional pressure. The aim of this research was to explore if the perception of the academic context as stressful can be associated to health symptoms (physical and mental) in higher education students enrolled in different degrees. Method. 728 students were recruited from a Spanish university. An academic stressors questionnaire (E-CEA) and response to the stress questionnaire (R-CEA) were used to assess academic stress and health symptoms. We conducted a t-test, Pearson correlation test and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results. Academic stress is moderate correlated to health symptoms (r≥.40 in all cases). Specifically, academic stress reported by students is positively associated to physical exhaustion (r=.533; p<.001), sleeping disorders (r=.429; p<.001), irascibility (r=.467; p<.001), negative thoughts (r=.558; p<.001) and feeling nervous (r= .474; p< .001). Significant differences in E-CEA and R-CEA were found for age and major (p≤0.001). We observed a model which accounted for 40.3% of the variance of health symptoms reported by students, being academic stress the strongest predictive variable. Conclusions. The results from this study support the assumption that academic stress has a negative impact on college students´ health.

Assessment of mobile phone problematic usage and associated health related symptoms among medical students at Goa Medical College

Background: Mobile Phones can be considered as one of the essential socio-personal utility with diverse features but its overuse may have negative consequences on health. The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of mobile phone problematic usage among the medical students and to study the association of health related symptoms and problematic mobile phone usage.Methods: A total of 250 medical students were included in this study. Data regarding the sociodemographic factors and perceived health symptoms related to mobile phone use was collected on a predesigned, structured and self-administered questionnaire. Mobile phone problem use scale (MPPUS) was employed to assess the problematic usage of mobile phone and students were classified into following four categories - casual users (<74), regular users (75-143), at risk users (>143-<179) and problematic users (>179).Results: The total prevalence of problematic users was 22% (17.2% at risk, 4.8% problematic users). Eye strain, concentration difficulties, memory disturbances, morning tiredness, headache, sleep disturbances, painful fingers and restlessness were significantly associated with at risk and problematic users.Conclusions: Multiple health symptoms were associated with problematic use of mobile phones among the medical students. MPPUS is a useful tool which can be used to identify problematic usage of mobile phones.

Fecal indicator bacteria in tropical beach sand: Baseline findings from Port Dickson coastline, Strait of Malacca (Malaysia)

This pilot study aims to assess Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination and its perceived health risks among beachgoers in ten tropical beach sands along Port Dickson coastline (Malaysia). This study also aims to determine the relationship between perceived health symptoms and tropical beach sand exposure behavior. The concentration of E. coli in tropical beach sand ranged from 60cfu/100g to 4113cfu/100g. E. coli contamination was the highest at Tanjung Gemuk (4113±30cfu/100g) and the lowest at Tanjung Tuan (60±15cfu/100g); the high level of contamination could be due to the location of the former at the sewage outlet of nearby hotels. Skin symptoms were the most predominant among the health symptoms indicated by beachgoers. Exposure duration was significantly correlated with the perceived health symptoms among beachgoers in the beaches studied.

Students' Perceived Heat-Health Symptoms Increased with Warmer Classroom Temperatures.

Temperatures in Africa are expected to increase by the end of the century. Heat-related health impacts and perceived health symptoms are potentially a problem, especially in public schools with limited resources. Students (n = 252) aged ~14–18 years from eight high schools completed an hourly heat-health symptom log over 5 days. Data loggers measured indoor classroom temperatures. A high proportion of students felt tired (97.2%), had low concentration (96.8%) and felt sleepy (94.1%) during at least one hour on any day. There were statistically significant correlations, when controlling for school cluster effect and time of day, between indoor temperatures ≥32 °C and students who felt tired and found it hard to breathe. Consistently higher indoor classroom temperatures were observed in classrooms constructed of prefabricated asbestos sheeting with corrugated iron roof and converted shipping container compared to brick classrooms. Longitudinal studies in multiple seasons and different classroom building types are needed.

Attitudes: Mediators of the Relation between Health and Driving in Older Adults.

We examined the relations between perceived health (e.g., self-perceived health status) and driving self-regulatory practices (e.g., frequency of driving, avoiding challenging driving situations) as mediated by driving attitudes and perceptions (i.e., driving comfort, positive and negative attitudes towards driving) in data collected for 928 drivers aged 70 and older enrolled in the Candrive II study. We observed that specific attitudes towards driving (e.g., driving comfort, negative attitudes towards driving) mediate the relations between health symptoms and self-regulatory driving behaviours at baseline and over time. Only negative attitudes towards driving fully mediated the relationships between changes in perceived health symptoms and changes in driving behavior. Perceived health symptoms apparently influence the likelihood of avoiding challenging driving situations through both initial negative attitudes towards driving as well as changes in negative attitudes over time. Understanding influences on self-regulatory driving behaviours will be of benefit when designing interventions to enhance the safety of older drivers.

Farmers Knowledge, Practices and Perceived Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides used in Thimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal


 
 Background: All over the world, the use of pesticides is considered the most attractive method of controlling pests which involves less labor and characterizes higher output per hectare of land. I aim to study to assess Farmers Knowledge and Practices of Pesticides used and self-reported health systems associated with pesticides used in Thimi, Bhaktapur.
 
 Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among farmers of Thimi, Bhaktapur. 210 farmers were enrolled in the study. Data collection involved a self-prepared questionnaire to farmers and information was collected by face to face interviews. Socio demographics status, unsafe pesticide handling practices of pesticide storage, conditions of personal protective equipment (PPE) was assessed as per the questionnaires.
 Results: Out of 210 farmers, who participated in the study, 70% were male and 30% were female. Majority 87% of farmers couldn’t read and write. Knowledge regarding the personal protective equipment was known to 85% used mask, 8% used gloves. Thus, no farmers were found using boots and goggles. Practices of washing hand among farmers were found to be93%. Majority (92%) of the farmers neither smoked nor drank or ate anything during spray of pesticides.
 Conclusion: There is a low education level, lack of information about pesticide residue, and inadequate personal protection during pesticide use among farmers in Thimi Bhaktapur.
 

Mobile phone use and health symptoms in children.

To investigate the mobile phone (MP) use for talking in relation to health symptoms among 2042 children aged 11-15 years in Taiwan. A nationwide, cross-sectional study, using the computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) technique, was conducted in 2009 to collect information on children's utilization of MPs and the perceived health symptoms reported by their parents. The overall prevalence of MP use in the past month was estimated at 63.2% [95% confidence interval (CI)=61.1-65.3%]. MP use was associated with a significantly increased adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for headaches and migraine (1.42, 95% CI=1.12-1.81) and skin itches (1.84, 95% CI=1.47-2.29). Children who regularly used MPs were also considered to have a health status worse than it was 1 year ago (β=0.27, 95% CI=0.17-0.37). Although the cross-sectional design precludes the causal inference for the observed association, our study tended to suggest a need for more cautious use of MPs in children, because children are expected to experience a longer lifetime exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from MPs.

Indicators of microbial beach water quality: Preliminary findings from Teluk Kemang beach, Port Dickson (Malaysia)

This study aims to determine the concentrations of total coliforms and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in beach water, Teluk Kemang beach. This study was also aimed to determine relationship between total coliforms, E. coli and physicochemical parameters. As perceived health symptoms among beach visitors are rarely incorporated in beach water studies, this element was also assessed in this study. A total of eight water sampling points were selected randomly along Teluk Kemang beach. Total coliforms concentrations were found between 20 and 1940cfu/100ml. E. coli concentrations were between 0 and 90cfu/100ml. Significant correlations were found between total coliforms and E. coli with pH, temperature and oxidation reduction potential. Skin and eyes symptoms were the highest reported though in small numbers. Microbiological water quality in Teluk Kemang public beach was generally safe for recreational activities except sampling location near with sewage outfall.

Attributing illness to ‘old age:’ Consequences of a self-directed stereotype for health and mortality

Stereotypic beliefs about older adults and the aging process have led to endorsement of the myth that ‘to be old is to be ill.’ This study examined community-dwelling older adults’ (N = 105, age 80+) beliefs about the causes of their chronic illness (ie, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.), and tested the hypothesis that attributing the onset of illness to ‘old age’ is associated with negative health outcomes. A series of multiple regressions (controlling for chronological age, gender, income, severity of chronic conditions, functional status and health locus of control) demonstrated that ‘old age’ attributions were associated with more frequent perceived health symptoms, poorer health maintenance behaviours and a greater likelihood of mortality at 2-year follow-up. The probability of death was more than double among participants who strongly endorsed the ‘old age’ attribution as compared to those who did not (36% vs. 14%). Findings are framed in the context of self-directed stereotypes and implications for potential interventions are considered.