Office characteristics and dry eye complaints in European workers–The OFFICAIR study

Ocular discomfort is a prevalent health complaint in offices. It is hypothesized that, in addition to individual and occupational factors, the buildings' indoor environment may affect eye complaints. However, insight in potential building-related causal factors, needed to allow development of e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Building and environment 2016-06, Vol.102, p.54-63
Main Authors: de Kluizenaar, Yvonne, Roda, Célina, Dijkstra, Nienke Elske, Fossati, Serena, Mandin, Corinne, Mihucz, Victor G., Hänninen, Otto, de Oliveira Fernandes, Eduardo, Silva, Gabriela V., Carrer, Paolo, Bartzis, John, Bluyssen, Philomena M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Building characteristics
Buildings
Construction
Discomfort
Dry eyes
Drying
Eyes
Indoor environment
Mathematical models
Office buildings
Sick building syndrome
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Summary:Ocular discomfort is a prevalent health complaint in offices. It is hypothesized that, in addition to individual and occupational factors, the buildings' indoor environment may affect eye complaints. However, insight in potential building-related causal factors, needed to allow development of effective prevention strategies in building design, operation and maintenance is limited. This study aimed to investigate the relations between modern office building characteristics and dry eye complaints. Comprehensive characteristics of 167 office buildings in eight European countries, were linked to questionnaire data from 7441 office workers. Multilevel modeling was applied to explore relations between building characteristics and self-reported dry eye complaints, in a cross-sectional study. Among office workers investigated, 34% declared dry eye complaints during the past four weeks. Majority of workers (91.2%) experiencing these symptoms, reported improvement on days away from the office. After full adjustment, the regression model revealed a significant increased risk for: proximity (
ISSN:0360-1323
1873-684X
DOI:10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.03.013