Frequency of Sick Building Syndrome and Its Related Factors in Nurses at Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan City 2018: A Cross-Sectional Study

Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a building-related illness in which people in the environment do not experience proper physical and mental well-being. Mental and physical changes include headache, nausea, abnormal fatigue, lack of concentration, sensation of an unpleasant odor. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of SBS and its related factors in nurses at Ali Ibn Abitaleb hospital in Rafsanjan City in 2018.

This cross-sectional study was performed using standard MM040EA questionnaire related to SBS and indoor air quality at Ali Ibn Abitaleb hospital in Rafsanjan city in 2018. 285 nurses in different wards of the hospital were entered the study using census method. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and chi-square test.The mean ± standard deviation of age for participating nurses was 34.04±7.90 years. Fatigue 88 (63.8%), dry hands and itching and red skin 71 (51.4%) were the most frequent symptoms of SBS among the nurses. 68 (49.3%) nurses complained of unpleasant odors of the workplace every week, and 77 (56.2%) nurses felt their workload was sometimes high. Demographic characteristics, work environment and working conditions did not show any statistically significant difference with the frequency of SBS (p>0.05).Due to the high frequency of SBS in hospital nurses and its effects on performance and productivity, it is necessary to re-engineer the hospital environment and improve the work environment, especially ventilation of hospital wards.