Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Indoor and Built Environment
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bholah, R.
Right arrow Articles by Subratty, A.H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Sick Building Syndrome in Mauritius: Are Symptoms Associated with the Office Environment?

R. Bholah

Department of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

I. Fagoonee

Department of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

A.H. Subratty

Department of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

A cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate the occurrence of the sick building syndrome (SBS) among office workers in Mauritius. A walk-through inspection and a questionnaire survey were carried out in 21 office building complexes to evaluate the prevalence of risk indicators for SBS symptoms among 302 office workers. Indoor climatic variables monitored were: carbon diox ide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, air temperature, relative humidity, air movement, noise and light. All data collected were analysed using the EPI-info software. Re sults showed that symptoms of SBS were significantly higher among occupants of buildings with mechanical ventilation than those of the naturally ventilated build ings. Among personal factors assessed, there were gen erally consistent findings associating increased symp toms with age and female gender. The results also revealed that certain SBS symptoms such as a headache across the forehead, nervousness, nausea, irritated sore eyes and sneezing were more widespread among wom en in these offices. However, measurements of the se lected indoor variables were not found to be reliable pre dictors of the symptoms.

Key Words: Sick building syndrome • Indoor air quality • Symptoms • Ventilation • Mauritius

Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 9, No. 1, 44-51 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X0000900109
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?