title: [The adventures of "Sick Building Syndrome"].
abstract: The Sick Building syndrome concept is used to describe a variety of minor symptoms that afflict groups of people in the workplace or in public buildings. In theory, the sick building syndrome is characterized by an unspecified etiology: it underlines a multiplicity of possible causes, environmental or psychosocial, which produce various effects. In practice, the concept is often misused as a synonym of the psychogenic syndrome. The paper explores this "etiological reduction" and highlights some of the problematic consequences. The authors advocate for the recognition of uncertainty, which is in their opinion, a source and driver of renewed reflection in the public health area.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, UMR CNRS 7185, Ecole des Mines de Paris.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Barthe
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rémy
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D018877:Sick Building Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology