Department of Clinical Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Occupational Health, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.
Clinical Research Unit TROSSI, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2023 Apr;96(3):433-441. doi: 10.1007/s00420-022-01934-9. Epub 2022 Nov 4.
The purpose of this study was to investigate time trends in the prevalence of hoarseness among health care professionals in primary health care units (PHC) and in hospitals from 2007 to 2018. Moreover, purpose was to discover potential indoor environmental quality (IEQ) risk factors as well as to determine the effect of the remediation of the indoor air problems on the prevalence of hoarseness.
The health status was collected from all employees in these units/hospitals (N = 1564/1199) with questionnaires and the follow-ups were carried out as an open cohort. Based on building condition inspections, buildings were classified to be an "exposed" or "reference" buildings by third-party experts. The before and after remediation results were compared to reference buildings.
During follow-up, hoarseness has not increased in those PHC units with good IEQ. In the pilot study, the prevalence of hoarseness in non-exposed reference building was 5.9%, and it stayed approximately at the same level throughout the follow-up. Whereas in buildings with an IEQ problem the prevalence of hoarseness varied between 16.2 and 36.1% and it decreased to 11.4% after the remediations. In a large hospital with severe IEQ problems, the prevalence of hoarseness was 39.1%, and in hospital buildings with a milder exposure 23.3%. The most important risk factors for hoarseness were asthma, allergic rhinitis and IEQ problems.
A good indoor environment and the remediation of damaged buildings seem to promote a better condition of the voice in health care workers.
本研究旨在调查 2007 年至 2018 年期间，初级保健单位（PHC）和医院内医疗保健专业人员声音嘶哑的患病率的时间趋势。此外，目的是发现潜在的室内环境质量（IEQ）风险因素，并确定室内空气问题修复对声音嘶哑患病率的影响。
通过问卷调查收集了这些单位/医院（N=1564/1199）所有员工的健康状况，并作为开放性队列进行随访。根据建筑物状况检查，由第三方专家将建筑物分类为“暴露”或“参照”建筑物。将修复前后的结果与参照建筑物进行比较。
在随访期间，IEQ 良好的 PHC 单位中声音嘶哑并未增加。在试点研究中，未暴露参照建筑中声音嘶哑的患病率为 5.9%，整个随访期间基本保持在同一水平。而在 IEQ 有问题的建筑物中，声音嘶哑的患病率在 16.2%至 36.1%之间波动，修复后降至 11.4%。在一个 IEQ 问题严重的大医院中，声音嘶哑的患病率为 39.1%，在 IEQ 暴露程度较轻的医院建筑中，患病率为 23.3%。声音嘶哑的最重要风险因素是哮喘、过敏性鼻炎和 IEQ 问题。
良好的室内环境和受损建筑物的修复似乎有助于改善医疗保健工作者的嗓音状况。
