Perceived indoor air quality, air-related symptoms and ventilation in Finnish hospitals

• Authors: Ulla-Maija Hellgren , Markku Hyvärinen , Rauno Holopainen , Kari Reijula

Abstracts

EN

Objectives: Good ventilation is more important in hospitals than in many other buildings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the condition, performance and modernity of ventilation systems on the perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) and the indoor air-related symptoms of hospital personnel. Materials and Methods: An inspection and evaluation graded on a 1 to 3 scale of the condition, performance, and modernity of the ventilation systems was carried out in ten central hospitals in Finland. The perceived IAQ and the related symptoms were collected by means of an indoor air questionnaire survey among the workers in these hospitals. Results: The condition, performance and modernity of the ventilation systems were good in 40% of the hospitals included in the research and poor in another 40% of them. In hospitals where the majority of the ventilation systems were assessed to be good, the prevalence of the indoor air-related complaints and symptoms was lower than in hospitals where the majority of the ventilation systems were assessed as needing extensive repairs. Conclusions: The condition and performance of the ventilation systems in hospitals had a significant impact on the perceived IAQ and the symptoms observed among the employees in Finnish hospitals. Therefore, it is important that hospital ventilation systems are maintained properly and regularly. Furthermore, they should be renovated, at the latest when their technical lifespan expires.

Keywords

EN

evaluation of ventilation; Indoor Air Questionnaire; perceived indoor air quality; Health care workers

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 48-56

Dates

published

2011

Contributors

author

Ulla-Maija Hellgren

• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

author

Markku Hyvärinen

• Insinööri Studio Oy, Lappeenranta, Finland

author

Rauno Holopainen

• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

author

Kari Reijula

• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
• Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampereen yliopisto, Finland

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13382-011-0011-5

Biblioteka Nauki

2185474