ORIGINAL PAPER
Perceived indoor air quality and psychosocial work environment in office, school and health care environments in Finland
More details
Hide details
1
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Työterveyslaitos, Finland
(Healthy Workspaces)
2
Aalto University, Aalto, Finland
(Department of Civil Engineering)
3
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
(Medical Faculty, Department of Public and Occupational Health)
Online publication date: 2020-05-27
Corresponding author
Katja Tähtinen
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Healthy Workspaces, P.O. Box 18, Työterveyslaitos 00032, Finland
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2020;33(4):479-95
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The study examined the extent and prevalence of perceived indoor environment-related (IE-related) symptoms environmental complaints
and psychosocial work environmental factors in Finnish office, school and health care environments. Material and Methods: The data were
collected from non-industrial workplaces (N = 455) in 2011–2012 and 2015–2017 using the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s Indoor Air
Questionnaire (IA Questionnaire). Suspicion of IE-related problems was reported in 59% of workplaces. The data consisted of 28 826 employees’
responses. Results: The employees reported symptoms and environmental discomfort in office environments less often than in school or health
care environments. The most often reported IE-related complaints were stuffy air (39% of respondents), dry air (34%) and insufficient ventilation
(33%). The most often reported symptoms were irritation of the nose (27% of respondents), irritation of the eyes (26%), and hoarse or dry throat
(24%). The results showed differences between the perceived IE in office, school and health care environments. Conclusions: Compared to earlier
findings, the most often perceived IE-related symptoms and complaints have increased in Finnish health care environments. The office employees’
perceptions of psychosocial work environment remained fairly unchanged whereas health care personnel more often assessed their psychosocial
environment as positive compared to previous reports. Instead of exact reference values, comparing the results of IA Questionnaires with the distributions
and mean values of the results of this study may be more informative for those striving to solve IE-related problems. The presented distribution
and mean values of perceived symptoms, environmental complaints and psychosocial work environment might help to relate the results to other
workplaces. This, in turn, might increase the understanding that IA Questionnaire results are influenced by many factors. The results presented can
be used as new reference material when interpreting the results of IA Questionnaires in office, school and health care environments. Int J Occup
Med Environ Health. 2020;33(4):479–95