Sick building syndrome and perceived indoor environmental quality: A survey of apartment buildings in Hong Kong

Occupant health in buildings: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the opinions of building professionals and implications on research

The objectives of this study are to investigate building professionals' experience, awareness, and interest in occupant health in buildings, and to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their opinions, as well as to compare the research on occupant health in buildings to professionals' opinions. To address these objectives, a mixed research methodology, including a thorough review of the literature (NL = 190) and an online survey (NS = 274), was utilized. In general, there is an increasing research interest in occupant health and a heightened interest in health-related projects, among professionals, following the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, among the nine different building attributes examined, indoor air quality was the most researched building attribute with a focus on occupant health and was also presumed to be the most important by the professionals. Professionals considered fatigue and musculoskeletal pain to be the most important physical well-being issues, and stress, anxiety, and depression to be the most important mental well-being issues that need to be the focus of design, construction, and operation of buildings to support and promote occupant health, while eye-related symptoms and loss of concentration were the most researched physical and mental well-being symptoms in the literature, respectively. Finally, professionals indicated that COVID-19 pandemic had significant effect on their perspectives regarding buildings' impact on occupant health and they believed future building design, construction and operation will focus more on occupant health because of the pandemic experience.

COVID-19 and healthy home preferences: The case of apartment residents in Tehran

With the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, domestic spaces have become dramatically important in terms of controlling pandemics and as an environment that must meet the needs of residents during the quarantine period. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the health parameters in the domestic space in the apartment type after COVID-19. The indicators related to physical health, mental health, and socio-economic lifestyle changes affecting the interior architecture of apartment houses have been evaluated with the use of a questionnaire with 632 respondents in Tehran. These indicators have been measured with regard to space, building structure, mental comfort, self-sufficiency, and workplace. The data were analysed using Friedman, Mean, and ANOVA tests to prioritize indicators in the SPSS software. The results indicated that variables related to mental health such as natural light, view, acoustic, and open or semi-open space are of particular importance. Therefore, attention to mental health parameters should be considered by planners, builders, and architects in apartment design.

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The relationship between interior design and healthy housing is explained.

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Dimensions of a healthy home about COVID_19 are divided into three factors of health and five indexes of home design.

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The important factors of a healthy home about COVID_19 pandemic are identified to be considered in the future designs.

Worker Perspectives on Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into Office Workspaces: Implications for the Future of Office Work

Workplace environments have a significant impact on worker performance, health, and well-being. With machine learning capabilities, artificial intelligence (AI) can be developed to automate individualized adjustments to work environments (e.g., lighting, temperature) and to facilitate healthier worker behaviors (e.g., posture). Worker perspectives on incorporating AI into office workspaces are largely unexplored. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore office workers' views on including AI in their office workspace. Six focus group interviews with a total of 45 participants were conducted. Interview questions were designed to generate discussion on benefits, challenges, and pragmatic considerations for incorporating AI into office settings. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an iterative approach. Two primary constructs emerged. First, participants shared perspectives related to preferences and concerns regarding communication and interactions with the technology. Second, numerous conversations highlighted the dualistic nature of a system that collects large amounts of data; that is, the potential benefits for behavior change to improve health and the pitfalls of trust and privacy. Across both constructs, there was an overarching discussion related to the intersections of AI with the complexity of work performance. Numerous thoughts were shared relative to future AI solutions that could enhance the office workplace. This study's findings indicate that the acceptability of AI in the workplace is complex and dependent upon the benefits outweighing the potential detriments. Office worker needs are complex and diverse, and AI systems should aim to accommodate individual needs.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Corona Pandemic in Social Sciences: A Review of Influential Aspects and Conceptual Structure

Corona pandemic has affected the whole world, and it is a highly researched area in biological sciences. As the current pandemic has affected countries socially and economically, the purpose of this bibliometric analysis is to provide a holistic review of the corona pandemic in the field of social sciences. This study aims to highlight significant, influential aspects, research streams, and themes. We have reviewed 395 journal articles related to coronavirus in the field of social sciences from 2003 to 2020. We have deployed 'biblioshiny' a web-interface of the 'bibliometrix 3.0' package of R-studio to conduct bibliometric analysis and visualization. In the field of social sciences, we have reported influential aspects of coronavirus literature. We have found that the 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report' is the top journal. The core article of coronavirus literature is 'Guidelines for preventing health-care-associated pneumonia'. The most commonly used word, in titles, abstracts, author's keywords, and keywords plus, is 'SARS'. Top affiliation is 'The University of Hong Kong'. Hong Kong is a leading country based on citations, and the USA is on top based on total publications. We have used a conceptual framework to identify potential research streams and themes in coronavirus literature. Four research streams are found by deploying a co-occurrence network. These research streams are 'Social and economic effects of epidemic disease', 'Infectious disease calamities and control', 'Outbreak of COVID 19,' and 'Infectious diseases and the role of international organizations'. Finally, a thematic map is used to provide a holistic understanding by dividing significant themes into basic or transversal, emerging or declining, motor, highly developed, but isolated themes. These themes and subthemes have proposed future directions and critical areas of research.

Housing Conditions, Neighborhood Physical Environment, and Secondhand Smoke Exposure at Home: Evidence from Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrant Workers

Over the past two decades, health-related issues among rural-to-urban migrant workers in China have been widely discussed and documented by public health scholars. However, little, if any, scholarly attention has been paid to migrant workers’ secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home. This study aims to explore the contours of SHS exposure at home and investigate the effects of inadequate housing conditions and poor neighborhood physical environments on such in-home exposure among Chinese migrant workers. A respondent-driven sampling method was employed to interview 1854 rural-to-urban migrant workers from the period June 2017 to June 2018 in Chengdu, China. The results indicate that Chinese migrant workers are at high risk of SHS exposure at home. Migrant workers who live in homes with inadequate conditions, such as substandard housing and crowdedness, are especially at high risk of SHS exposure at home. Moreover, poor neighborhood physical environments are significantly and positively associated with SHS exposure at home. These findings suggest that strategies that can help improve housing conditions and neighborhood physical environments should be developed and promoted to protect rural-to-urban migrant workers from SHS exposure at home.

Secondhand Smoke From Multiple Sources, Thirdhand Smoke and Respiratory Symptoms in Hong Kong Adolescents

Introduction

Reports on involuntary tobacco smoke exposure in children have focused mostly on secondhand smoke (SHS) from smoking inside the home. We studied the separate and combined prevalence of SHS exposure from multiple sources and thirdhand smoke (THS) and the associations with respiratory symptoms in Hong Kong adolescents.

Methods

In 2010-2011, 61 810 Secondary 1 (US Grade 7) to seven students reported their smoking status, respiratory symptoms, and exposure to four sources of tobacco smoke in the past 7 days. Weighted prevalence of exposure was calculated. Associations with respiratory symptoms were analyzed in 50 762 never smokers using logistic regression.

Results

Tobacco smoke exposure at home was 23.2% considering SHS exposure from inside the home, but increased to 33.2% including SHS from neighbors and 36.2% further including THS. Including SHS outside home (55.3%), 63.3% of adolescents were exposed to SHS anywhere or THS at home. In never smokers, SHS from each source and THS at home were linearly associated with respiratory symptoms. Exposure to more sources yielded stronger associations with respiratory symptoms (p for trend<.001). The adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) were 1.04 (0.97-1.11), 1.12 (1.03-1.22), 1.40 (1.26-1.56) and 1.99 (1.74-2.28) for 1, 2, 3, and 4 sources, respectively.

Conclusions

Although Hong Kong's smoking prevalence is among the lowest in the developed world, over 60% of its adolescents were involuntarily exposed to tobacco smoke from one or more sources with a linear association with respiratory symptoms in never smokers. More stringent policies are needed to protect adolescents from tobacco smoke.

Implications

In a high-density urban setting, involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke in adolescents can be much higher than the smoking prevalence of the general population, especially if SHS exposure from multiple sources and THS are also considered. Such exposures have important health implications as demonstrated by their linear associations with respiratory symptoms. Tobacco control measures effective in reducing smoking prevalence may have little effect in reducing adolescent exposure to tobacco smoke, especially in the private home, in which other public health strategies are urgently needed.

Exposure to secondhand smoke from neighbours and respiratory symptoms in never-smoking adolescents in Hong Kong: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To investigate secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home from neighbours in Hong Kong adolescents and its association with respiratory symptoms in never-smokers.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

79 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong.

PARTICIPANTS

61,810 secondary 1 (USA grade 7) to 7 students, in which 50,762 never-smokers were identified and included in the analysis of the association between SHS exposure at home from neighbours and respiratory symptoms.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Smoking status, family smoking status, SHS exposure at home from inside the home and from neighbours in the past 7 days, respiratory symptoms and sociodemographic characteristics were reported. Adjusted ORs (AORs) of respiratory symptoms for SHS exposure from the 2 sources in never-smokers were calculated using logistic regression.

RESULTS

In all students, 33.2% were exposed to SHS at home, including 16.2% from inside the home only, 10.0% from neighbours only and 7.0% from both. The prevalence of SHS exposure from neighbours was 17.1%, including 13.5% for 1-4 days/week and 3.6% for 5-7 days/week. In never-smokers (n=50,762), respiratory symptoms were significantly associated with SHS exposure from neighbours with AORs (95% CI) of 1.29 (1.20 to 1.39) for any exposure (p<0.001), 1.21 (1.12 to 1.31) for 1-4 days/week (p<0.001) and 1.63 (1.44 to 1.86) for 5-7 days/week (p<0.001) (P for trend <0.001). Compared with no SHS exposure at home from any source, the AORs were 1.16 (1.07 to 1.25) for SHS from inside the home only (p<0.001), 1.20 (1.11 to 1.31) from neighbours only (p<0.001), and 1.74 (1.56 to 1.94) from both (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

SHS exposure at home from neighbours was prevalent in Hong Kong adolescents, and was associated with respiratory symptoms in never-smokers. SHS exposure at home may be underestimated by ignoring the neighbouring source. Smoke-free housing policy is needed to protect children and adolescents from harms of SHS.

Effect of Traffic Exposure on Sick Building Syndrome Symptoms among Parents/Grandparents of Preschool Children in Beijing, China

INTRODUCTION

Sick building syndrome (SBS) includes general, mucosal and skin symptoms. It is typically associated with an individual's place of work or residence. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of traffic exposure on SBS symptoms in Beijing, China.

METHODS

From January to May, 2011, recruitment occurred at kindergartens in 11 districts in Beijing. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed by teachers to legal guardians of children and then returned to teachers. The questionnaire asked them to recall the presence of 12 SBS symptoms from the previous three months. Living near a highway or main road (within 200 meters) was used as a proxy for traffic exposure. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test the association between traffic exposure and a higher number of SBS symptoms, controlling for key covariates.

RESULTS

There were 5487 valid questionnaires (65.0% response rate). Univariate analysis showed that living near a main road or highway (OR = 1.40), female gender (OR = 1.44), and environmental tobacco smoking (ETS) (OR = 1.13) were significant risk factors for general symptoms. Grandparent's generation (OR = 0.32) and home ownership (owner vs. renter) (OR = 0.89) were significant protective factors. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for the association between living close to a highway and general symptoms remained significant in the multivariable model (aOR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.21: 1.59). ORs and aORs were similar for mucosal and skin symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

This study found traffic exposure to be significantly associated with SBS symptoms. This finding is consistent with current literature that indicates an association between adverse health effects and living near highway or main road.

Contextualizing green building rating systems: Case study of Hong Kong

The paper reports on a research study undertaken on the differentiation of green building certification systems at an international, national and local level. Through a cross comparison, authors are able to explain the differences by the contextualism theory which could be traced back to the fundamental divergence on lifestyles, preferences, urban morphology besides climatic variations. The discussion is derived from a study of three green rating systems representing international, national and local systems with reference to intentions, mechanisms and benchmarks to facilitate objective assessments. For the case of Hong Kong, local challenges are identified and compared with counterparts at a national level. Two residential projects having certified by the 'modified, localized' national system is selected for a case study for synopsis with a view to explain the cause and effect of transferability versus non-transferability of assessment credits and protocols. Introducing and applying national and international systems to a local context can detect flaws in local design practices that may be ignored in the local rating system.