Kjell Andersson

Seasonal Variation in Perceived Indoor Environment and Nonspecific Symptoms in a Temperate Climate

Seasonal Variation in Perceived Indoor Environment and Nonspecific Symptoms in a Temperate Climate: Tetsuya Mizoue, et al. Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University—Few epidemiological studies have examined the effects of season on symptoms typical of sick building syndrome (SBS). The present study aims to clarify seasonal variation in a perceived indoor environment and SBS symptoms in a temperate climate. A total of 116 workers were recruited from office buildings in southern Japan that presented no apparent serious indoor problems. A validated questionnaire was distributed four times, once at the end of each season. Seasonal effects on the perceived indoor environment and SBS symptoms were investigated with a parametric test for repeated measurement of categorical data. Logits were used as the response function, and were compared to overall logits to determine the relevant odds ratios (OR). The effect of season/building interaction was also evaluated. Significant seasonal variation in the perceived indoor environment was found for temperature, dryness, air stuffiness, and static electricity (p for season, <0.05), although the seasonal patterns for temperature and dryness differed according to the building (p for interaction, <0.05). Symptoms in the mucous membrane (eyes, nose, and throat) and skin increased considerably in the winter and spring (p for season, <0.05), whereas general symptoms varied little, but such seasonality of symptoms was not modified by the building factor. The associations between perception of indoor environments and mucous and skin symptoms became stronger during winter and spring. The present results suggest that perceived indoor environments, nonspecific symptoms and their associations are closely associated with the season among office workers in a temperate climate.

A Computer System for Occupational Health Epidemiology

To support the analysis of cohort data with comparison to the national averages of morbidity or mortality, a computer-based program system has been developed for the determination of expected numbers of cause-specific deaths as well as expected cases of cancer disease in a cohort. The features of the system refers to such operations as interactive data entry employing error-checking routines, data storing, fast and efficient data retrieval and permits various options with regard to exposure conditions and induction-latency periods. This paper describes the general principles of this program, and gives one example of a concrete application for which the system has been used.

Moderate impact of full-term pregnancy on estimated peak oxygen uptake, physical activity and perceived health

Objective. To study the impact of pregnancy on estimated peak oxygen uptake (), physical activity and perceived health. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Maternal health centers. Population. A cohort of pregnant women. Methods. Cycle ergometer test and questionnaires in early pregnancy and 5 months postpartum. Main outcome measures. , physical activity and perceived health. Results. Regular physical activity was reported by a successively lower proportion of women as pregnancy advanced but the proportion was regained postpartum. Despite this the difference between average absolute in early pregnancy and postpartum of 2.44 and 2.42 l/minute, respectively, was not significant. The adjusted absolute in early pregnancy successively increased with age to a maximum at 35 years, after which it decreased and among women of the same age the time between 8 and 12 weeks lowered the by 0.130 l/minute. With the Short Form 36 (SF‐36) questionnaire in early pregnancy the women scored their mean mental health to 72.0 and mean physical health to 79.7. At the postpartum appointment these scores were higher (p < 0.0001). Absolute and relative in early pregnancy were positively correlated to the variation of SF‐36′s mean physical health in early pregnancy (p < 0.0001) and postpartum (p < 0.0001). Conclusions. Pregnancy had a moderate influence on physical fitness and perceived health half a year postpartum despite less regular physical activity during pregnancy. in early pregnancy was positively correlated to perceived physical health.