A Prevalence Study of Work-Related Health Complaints in Wellington and Auckland

The Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is the occurrence of acute health and comfort systems linked to the occupancy of a building. To assess the prevalence of SBS in New Zealand office environments, 1200 office personnel were randomly selected from the 1995 Wellington and Auckland regions of the New Zealand General Electoral Role. A questionaire study was used to investigate work related symptoms. A response rate of 44.25% (506respondents) was achieved. The most common self-reported symptoms were lethargy/tiredness (50.3%), concentration difficulties (44.9%), headache (38%) and nasal irritation 03-9%). Female respondents reported higher number of work-related symptoms of all symptom categories. Location did not make a difference to symptoms reported. Work-related symptom prevalence was higher for clerical/secretarial roles than managerial roles. Respondents with a predisposition to asthma, hayfever and eczema reported increased symptoms in comparison to non-atopic respondents. © 2000 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.