Prevalence of symptoms of sick building syndrome and its associated factors in intensive care nurses in Kerman University of medical sciences educational hospitals

Symptoms such as headache، dizziness، nausea، cough and sneeze، irritated mucous membrane، eyes، throat، nose، inflammation and itching skin are associated with one of indoor air quality diseases، called sick building syndrome. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of symptoms of the syndrome and some related factors in educational hospital intensive care nurses in Kerman University of medical sciences. This study was a cross-sectional study. All intensive care nurses who were willing to cooperate in the study were enrolled in the census. The standard MM040EA questionnaire associated with sick building syndrome and indoor air quality was used in this study to determine prevalence of this syndrome. Data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed using chi-square test and ANOVA. Some symptoms included lack of focus (60. 2%)، headache and fatigue (58. 3%)، dry and irritated skin (57. 3%) and eye irritation (48. 5%) were more common than other symptoms. The syndrome did not depend on age، gender، employment and working conditions، and environmental factors. Environmental factors influence the development of the syndrome، including the noise and unpleasant smell the workplace (P<0. 05). According to high prevalence of sick building syndrome in nurses and its relationship to environment noise and unpleasant smell work، more attention to improvement of environment conditions، such as increasing the efficiency of air conditioning and fresh air to enhance the quality of work life for nurses segments and increase the efficiency of motivation of the working environment is needed.