Relationship between dormitory environment and respiratory tract infection among college students / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To analyze the relationship between dormitory environment and respiratory tract infection among college students.@*Methods@#A total of 890 dormitory rooms and 1 727 college students were investigated on symptoms including cough, hemoptysis and dyspnea or chest pain, as well as room sanitation(wet stain, mildew, damp, water loss and suspicious windows condensate), cleaning frequency and resident population. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and Logistic regression analysis by SPSS.@*Results@#63.0% of the school dorms were found of dampness, mustiness and water loss, 67.3% of students had the subjective perception of odor. Except for the dryness of air, the rate of subjective perception of odor of the damp dorms was higher than that of dry dorms, and the differences were of statistical significance(P<0.01). Factors such as sex, age, dorm orientation, bathroom equipment, were partially related to symptoms of students’ self-perception and diseases confirmed by the doctors(P<0.05). High humidity were significantly related to symptoms including cough, expectoration, dyspnea, asthma and bronchiectasia(P<0.05), while subjective perception of odor associated with risk of respiratory infections and symptoms.@*Conclusion@#Multipe dormitory evvironmental problems may cause respiratory tract infection and symptoms of college students, dorm sanitation should be promoted among college students.