Assessment of Indoor Air Quality and Sick Building Syndromes of Workers in a New Hospital Building

Abstract

A cross-sectional descriptive study aims to assessment of indoor air quality, relationship between parameters and the prevalence of sick building syndromes among workers in a new hospital building. Indoor air quality assessment i.e., temperature, relative humidity, airborne bacterial and fungal concentrations was obtained in 15 areas using Air Quality Monitor and Andersen single-stage impact. Data collection were gathered using questionnaires from 113 workers. Results of indoor air quality assessment showed that temperature, relative humidity, and airborne bacterial and fungal concentrations exceeded the indoor air quality standard (100.0%, 99.3%, 100.0% and 40.0%, respectively). The correlation analysis of indoor air quality parameters found that indoor temperatures had a statistically significant positive correlation with airborne fungal concentrations (r = 0.540, p-value <0.05). Most workers had a working period in the building of less than 8 hours/day (61.9%), they wear respiratory protective equipment every time while working (38.1%), and the workers were reported experiencing sick building syndrome symptoms (84.95%). In addition, the most common symptom experienced was headache (61.9%). The relationship between the amount of airborne bacterial concentrations were associated with the syndrome, eye and skin statistically significant (p-value = 0.050). The findings indicated that indoor air quality problems may affect to sick building syndromes among workers. Therefore, an inspection of ventilation system should be managed in the new hospital building. Furthermore, regular monitoring is essential for assessing indoor air quality of hospital buildings and for investigating health problems of workers.