Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.5
Guide for the Initial Characterization
of Complaints
Nature of complaints/symptoms
Site/organ affected (e.g., respiratory)
Severity
Duration
Associations
Treatment/confirmations
Timing of complaints
Long-term (continuing, periodic, seasonal, weekly, daily)
Short-term (isolated events)
Location of affected and nonaffected groups
Numbers affected
Demographics of occupants with and without complaints
Age
Gender
Employment status
Source:
From McCarthy, J.F. et al., in
Indoor Air Pollution: A Health
Perspective,
Samet, J.M. and Spengler, J.C., Eds., The Johns Hopkins
University Press, Baltimore, 1991, 82. With permission.
Though not commonly conducted by many IAQ/IE investigators, it is
essential that occupants reporting complaints be surveyed by in-person
interviews (preferred) or by the use of standardized questionnaires. Inter-
views can be of a general nature or structured (preferred). Ideally, individuals
interviewed should include those who have complained and those who have
not. A guide for the initial characterization of complaints is summarized in
not be unusual during the course of an interview for an individual to report
apparent building-related symptoms, discomfort with thermal conditions,
and unpleasant odors associated with the building environment.
Interviews with complainants often elicit information that helps define
the nature of health complaints, their onset and time-dependent variation,
their occurrence among specific individuals (e.g., those working with large
quantities of paper), and their possible relationship to work activities or
other factors that may indicate a potential causal association. In many cases,
occupant interviews are sufficient to identify risk factors and exposures that
are responsible for major complaints. An extensive building investigation
may not, as a consequence, be necessary.
In other circumstances, results of occupant interviews may not reveal a
clear-cut pattern or the occupant population might be too large for an inter-
view assessment of the problem. In such cases, it may be desirable to admin-
ister questionnaires to all building occupants or to individuals in areas of
the building where complaints have been reported.
Questionnaires are used in many IAQ/IE investigations. They are often
designed to obtain occupant demographic information, prevalence rates of
illness symptoms that may be associated with the building/work environ-
