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Personal Risk Factors Associated with Mucosal Symptom Prevalence in Office Workers
Author(s) -
Hall H. Irene,
Leaderer Brian P.,
Cain William S.,
Fidler Ann T.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0668.1993.t01-1-00006.x
Subject(s) - odds ratio , sick building syndrome , confidence interval , logistic regression , medicine , environmental health , office workers , multivariate analysis , odds , indoor air quality , geography , operations management , meteorology , economics
In 1989 the Madison Building of the Library of Congress was investigated to determine the source of occupant complaints about health symptoms and the indoor air quality. Questionnaires, distributed to all 3176 building occupants, assessed information on workstation characteristics, symptom occurrence, odors, thermal comfort, and demographic and health factors. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess personal risk factors associated with mucosal symptom reporting and reported sensitivity to irritants. Symptom prevalence was higher for women (odds ratio (OR) = 1.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40‐2.10), those who reported being especially sensitive to irritants (OR = 1.57, 95% CI1.27‐1.93), those with self‐reported allergies, flu, or chest illness, and those who took frequent fresh air breaks. It was found that females and non‐smokers and those reporting other adverse health effects tended to report sensitivity to irritants more frequently.