Prevalence and Associated Factors of Sick Building Syndrome’s Symptoms among Workers in an Airport, Thailand
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Abstract
Nowadays, the number of people living and working in buildings with closed ventilation systems is increasing. Past studies showed that the worldwide population was affected by "Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)", especially those working in office buildings and high-rise buildings. This cross-sectional study is the first study to examine the prevalence of SBS among workers in airport buildings and study the associated factors in many dimensions. There were 402 workers participating in this study. Data were collected using the questionnaire “MM 040 NA” in Thai language version with content validity validated based on an index of item objective congruence (IOC) 0.67 - 1 and the Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.62 coupled with the indoor air quality annual report. The relationship was analyzed using multiple logistic regression statistics. The prevalence of SBS was 29.4%. The associated factors of SBS are female, younger than 40 years old, having bachelor's degree or higher in educational level, involved with more than half of work time using a screen, work stress, and unpleasant smell. Improving the environment and operations as well as diagnosing SBS are key to solving the problem. Studying the impact of SBS on performance remains to be an important area for future studies.
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