Evaluation of Sick Building Syndrome prevalence among Mustafa Khomeini hospital staff in Ilam, 2015

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS), Consists of a constellation of symptoms including irritates the mucous membranes, headache, unusual fatigue, dryness, itching, and nausea that is associated with the presence of a particular building in terms of time. Therefore, this study aimed at the Determination of prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome among Mustafa Khomeini hospital staff in the city of Ilam in 2015.
The present research is a descriptive-analytic study. In this study, from 363 employees in the hospital building, 135 people were randomly chosen and examined. MM040EA questionnaire was used to evaluate clinical symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and indoor air quality. Background information and history of people were interviewed by using a questionnaire. Data collected from questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS software and chi-square tests and Pearson correlation coefficient.
Findings: In surveys, 40.7 % of people declared SBS symptoms. Prevalence of this syndrome was 4/56 % among women and 6/43 % in men. This difference was not statistically significant (P= 0.876). The prevalence of SBS syndrome was also statistically non-significant with age, experience, and hours of presence in the building. But there was a statistically significant relationship with the presence of chemicals in the workplace (P= 0.012) and SBS symptoms. The most common signs and symptoms were observed with the nervous system by 97.03 % , Mucosal irritation symptoms by 45.18 % , respiratory symptoms by 11.11 % , and signs of skin with 9.42 %.
Discussion & The study showed the symptoms of SBS in relatively high prevalence rates (40.7 % of the population). So the need to control and design the hospital according to international laws seems necessary.