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Relative Air Humidity in Hospital Wards – User Perception and Technical Consequences
Jennie Skoog
Building Services Engineering, Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology
Relative air humidity in hospitals is often perceived as low. This seems to be due to high indoor temperature or high particle concentration in the air. Perception of dry air, and low relative air humidity, can enforce the conditions for the HVAC system design so that the indoor environment can be improved. In this study, conducted in a hospital ward, measurements and questionnaire distribution to nursing staff and patients were carried out under both summer and winter conditions. The results showed that during summer and winter the relative air humidity and the humidity ratio indoors were low, and that both staff and patients perceived the air as dry during those seasons. In order to change these conditions the indoor air has to be humidified.
Key Words: Relative humidity • Hospital ward • Field study • Questionnaires
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Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 15, No. 1,
93-97 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X06062100
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