ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VENTILATION AND NONSPECIFIC BUILDING-RELATED SYMPTOMS

摘要

Objective: To investigate the association between ventilation and the worker's nonspecific building-related symptoms (BRS) in one office. Methods: The study office was located in the sixth floor of one semiconductor company with a floor area of 1452 m2 and a HVAC system with sealed windows. A total of 121 out of 174 office workers in this office participated in this study. All study subjects completed self-administered questionnaires of BRS symptoms during July 2003.The participant's perceptions of the office's physical environment were obtained in the survey. x2 test was used to analyze the prevalence of BRS between female and male workers. Multiple logistic regressions were used to evaluate the relationships between subjects' BRS symptoms and their demographic characteristics and perceptions of the environment. Results: Eye irritation, nonspecific and muscle symptoms were the most prevalent BRS among all the participants with 46%, 41% and 25%. Female and allergic workers had significantly higher BRS than other workers. BRS was positively associated with worker's' perception of inadequate wind velocity. Conclusions: Our results showed that the prevalence of office worker's BRS was significantly related to their perceptions of inadequate wind velocity in office environment.