Prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome among Primary School Pupils of Qom in 2014

Background and Objective(s): The Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) describes situations in which building occupants experience acute negative physical and mental effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a contaminated area when no specific illness or cause can be identified. Surveying on the prevalence of SBS among Qom primary school students was the aim of this study. Materials and Methods: This descriptive- analytical study was conducted in 24 primary schools of Qom. Half of the studied populations were girls and others were boys. Standard questionnaires were distributed among the 420 students. A total of 397 students (94.5 percent) filled the questionnaires. The data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The results showed that 24.2 percent of students (65.3% girls and 34.7% boys) in selected primary schools suffered from SBS. Among SBS symptoms, headache by 10% (39 cases) was the most common. The prevalence of general and mucosal- skin symptoms was 35.44 and 12.6 percent, respectively. Significant differences were observed between SBS with sex (P = 0.001), ventilation (P = 0.002), school age (P = 0.001) and satisfaction of students of size and light of class (P = 0.02). Conclusion: The SBS was associated with personal, psychosocial and environmental factors in indoor environments. Productivity loss and unacceptable performance in school children was anticipated with SBS development.

Sick building syndrome, Students, Primary schools, Qom