title: The correlation between mental health and multiple chemical sensitivity: a survey study in Japanese workers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to determine the correlation between mental health and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study was conducted at two companies in 2011; both in Kyushu, Japan. The "subjective symptoms" subscale of the "Self-diagnosis Checklist for Assessment of Workers' Accumulated Fatigue" was used as a mental health subscale. To determine if multiple chemical exposure has an impact on mental health, we composed an original path model using structural equation analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our final path model can be regarded as good: CMIN/DF = 1.832, CFI = 0.996, and RMSEA = 0.038, AIC = 71.158. As expected, chemical sensitivity and other chemical sensitivity scores predicted the health effects of multiple chemical exposure (β = 0.19, 0.64). Mental health was predicted by symptom severity and life impact (β = 0.56 and 0.12), which were both affected by multiple chemical exposure (β = 0.38 and 0.89, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As far as we are aware, this is the first study using path analysis to explore whether MCS can indicate mental health in worker populations worldwide, and we found a significant causal relationship between them. This could indicate that more focus should be placed on the impact of MCS on mental health in future investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjou, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan, bjcxy860508@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hisada
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001336:Automobiles; D001870:Book Industry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D066192:Manufacturing Industry; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D018777:Multiple Chemical Sensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires