Occupants who lived in buildings where fungal growth was observed reported SBS compared with their counterparts. The finding of this study is supported by other studies [ 7 , 16 , 33 ]. This is due to the fact that fungus or molds cause health problems in the mechanisms of either infection or allergy or toxin.
Fungal spores are generally recognized as important causes of respiratory allergies [ 16 , 34 ]. The current study explored that availability of functional windows is statistically associated with SBS. A wide range of literature also reported the effect of general ventilation on the health of the occupants [ 19 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. This fact can be explained that presence of functional windows as means of ventilating a building naturally helps the external fresh air to the living quarters and removes the internal exhausted air which in turn reduces the amount of contamination with chemicals or microorganisms, so that increased ventilation can be seen as an effective treatment of SBS [ 19 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].
This study also revealed that availability of fan in the living quarters was significantly associated with SBS. The prevalence of SBS was higher among occupants who lived in houses with no fan. Other studies also reported similar findings [ 40 , 41 ]. This is because fan-assisted ventilation improves the quality of the indoor air [ 42 , 43 ].
This study reported that SBS was associated with household cooking energy sources, cooking practice, and incensing habits of occupants.
The prevalence of SBS was higher among occupants who used charcoal as cooking energy source. Occupants who used charcoal and cooked inside the living quarters [ 44 , 45 , 46 ] and who used incensing and joss stick [ 27 , 29 ] had more chance to develop SBS. This can be justified that charcoal use and incensing habits are incomplete combustion processes that can generate gracious pollutants. Generally, cooking energy sources and cooking practices are the main sources for gracious pollutants to the indoor air [ 47 , 48 ].
This research did not assess the condition of office buildings in this study though the condition of office buildings is a covariate for SBS associated with residential buildings. Moreover, we did not measure indoor air quality, thermal condition, and light intensity using instruments. However, we used standardized checklists to assess these parameters.
The prevalence of SBS in Gondar town was found to be high, and a significant proportion of the population had more than one SBS symptom. Fungal growth, cleanliness of the building, availability of functional windows, availability of fan in the living quarters, using charcoal as cooking energy source, cooking inside the quarters, and incensing habits or joss stick use were identified as factors associated with SBS.
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The authors of this study did not receive funds from any funding institution. However, the University of Gondar covered questionnaire duplication and data collection fees. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. All the authors actively participated during the conception of the research issue, development of a research proposal, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and writing of various parts of the research report.
ZG designed the protocol, participated in data collection, analyzed the data, supervised the overall research process, and prepared the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript. Correspondence to Zemichael Gizaw. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Gondar and an official letter was submitted to the town and kebeles administrators.
There were no risks due to participation in this research project. The collected data were used for this research purpose only and kept with complete confidentiality.
Verbal informed consent was obtained from the study participants and guardians for children. Researchers provided health education for the study subjects on prevention of SBS. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Reprints and Permissions. Belachew, H. Sick building syndrome and associated risk factors among the population of Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia.
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