title: Estimating effects of moisture damage repairs on students' health-a long-term intervention study.
abstract: Health symptom questionnaire responses were collected from upper secondary and high school students (n=245) before comprehensive repairs of moisture damage in the school. The questionnaire study was repeated 1 year (n=227), 3 years (n=256), and 5 years (n=233) after the repairs. The data were analyzed both in cross-sectional design including all respondents, and longitudinally including paired observations of those individuals who had responded both before and after the repairs. In addition, the effect of intervention on health symptoms was analyzed using generalized estimating equations (GEEs), taking into account within-subject correlation between repeated measurements. Compared to the situation before the repairs, the situation after the repairs was significantly improved in most of the 20 symptoms studied among the cross-sectional study populations. However, improvement was not so clear in the paired analysis and GEE analysis among the students who responded to three repeated questionnaires. The results indicate that the repairs succeeded in the sense that new cases of symptomatic students were no longer expected. However, the reversibility of symptoms among the group of exposed individuals may need to be considered separately.
authors.affiliation: National Public Health Institute, Department of Environmental Health, POB 95, FIN-70701 Kuopio, Finland. haverinen@fulbrightweb.org
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Haverinen-Shaughnessy
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pekkanen
authors.forename: Aino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nevalainen
authors.forename: Demetrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moschandreas
authors.forename: Tuula
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Husman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D003252:Construction Materials; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students