Prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome in Bank Employees and its Relationship with Job Satisfaction and Some Environmental Factors

Background and purpose: According to the World Health Organization, sick building syndrome (SBS) is a common complication among office workers and its symptoms include inflammation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin, dry cough, dizziness, confusion, fatigue, and sensitivity to smells. Most of the symptoms disappear by leaving the building. Inappropriate design of buildings, workers activities, poor ventilation, chemical and biological pollutants are believed to be the risk factors for SBS. People involved in this situation usually have lower job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of SBS among bank employees and its relationship with job satisfaction and some environmental factors. Materials and methods: Data was obtained using the MM040EA questionnaire and JDI among all employees (n= 264) in one of the banks in Mazandaran province, Iran. To determine the parameters of air quality, temperature and concentrations of CO2, and humidity were measured using KIMO AQ-110 and TES1366, respectively. Data analysis was performed in SPSS16. Results: The mean age of workers was 33.25 years and the prevalence of SBS was 79.6%. Fatigue was the most common symptom. Gender, age, work experience, education, smoking, temperature, and humidity did not have a significant relationship with the prevalence of SBS. But CO2 concentration showed a weak relationship (P= 0.049). Job satisfaction was found to have a significant relationship with the prevalence of SBS (P= 0.001). Conclusion: A high prevalence of SBS was seen in our cases. Its negative impacts on their comfort and job performance calls for improving air quality and ventilation systems in workplace to reduce the symptoms of SBS.