title: Association of Sick Building Syndrome with Indoor Air Parameters.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Energy crisis in 1973 led to smaller residential and office buildings with lower air changes. This resulted in development of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). The objective of this study was to assess the association of SBS with individual factors and indoor air pollutants among employees in two office buildings of Petroleum Industry Health Organization in Tehran city.
  
  
  METHODS
  The association between personal and environmental factors and SBS symptoms was examined by a reliable and valid combined questionnaire. Environmental parameters were measured using calibrated instruments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results suggested that SBS symptoms were more common in women than men. Malaise and headache were the most common symptoms in women and men. Throat dryness, cough, sputum, and wheezing were less prevalent among employees in both offices. Light-intensity was significantly associated with some symptoms such as skin dryness (P = 0.049), eye pain (P = 0.026), and malaise (P = 0.043). There were no significant differences in prevalence of SBS symptoms between female workers of the two offices (P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The main causes of SBS among the employees were recycling of air in rooms using fan coils, traffic noise, poor lighting, and buildings located in a polluted metropolitan area.
authors.affiliation: Occupational Health Engineering Department, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Occupational Health Engineering Department, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Asghar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Khajevandi
authors.affiliation: Petroleum Industry Health Organization.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mousavi Najarkola
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mir Saeed
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Yekaninejad
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pourhoseingholi
authors.affiliation: Occupational Health Engineering Department, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Omidi
authors.affiliation: Occupational Health Engineering Department, School of Public Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
authors.forename: Saba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalantary
keywords: Indoor air; Offices; Parameters; Sick Building Syndrome