The influence of indoor environment quality on psychosocial work climate among office workers

Abstract

Background: There is increasing concern about psychosocial problem in workplaces and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is alleged to be among the major causes of this problem. Purpose: To investigate the influence of indoor environmental problems on psychosocial effect among office workers in Bangkok, Thailand. Study design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Method: Study subjects were 1,262 office workers selected by cluster random sampling from 5 air-conditioned buildings in Bangkok. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaires during February 2004. Results: Office workers in an unhealthy climate group were significantly younger, had longer weekly working hours and higher educational levels. The prevalence rates of all categories of IEQ complaints were higher in the unhealthy climate group. In crude analyses, the odds ratios of having an unhealthy psychosocial work climate were significantly associated with the number of IEQ complaints in a dose-response manner. After adjusting for a set of confounding factors (sex, age groups, education, job category and working hours), temperature, noise and dust are the aspects of IEQ complaints significantly associated with having an unhealthy psychosocial work climate. Conclusion: Good workplace IEQ would have beneficial effects on psychological well-being of employees.