Hospital indoor air quality and its relationships with building design, building operation, and occupant-related factors: A mini-review

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has recently gained substantial traction as the airborne transmission of infectious respiratory disease becomes an increasing public health concern. Hospital indoor environments are complex ecosystems and strategies to improve hospital IAQ require greater appreciation of its...

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书目详细资料
发表在:Frontiers in Public Health
主要作者: 2-s2.0-85142215133
格式: Short survey
语言:English
出版: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
在线阅读:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85142215133&doi=10.3389%2ffpubh.2022.1067764&partnerID=40&md5=3e7e9ca975cf094f1ff237c315371595
实物特征
总结:Indoor air quality (IAQ) has recently gained substantial traction as the airborne transmission of infectious respiratory disease becomes an increasing public health concern. Hospital indoor environments are complex ecosystems and strategies to improve hospital IAQ require greater appreciation of its potentially modifiable determinants, evidence of which are currently limited. This mini-review updates and integrates findings of previous literature to outline the current scientific evidence on the relationship between hospital IAQ and building design, building operation, and occupant-related factors. Emerging evidence has linked aspects of building design (dimensional, ventilation, and building envelope designs, construction and finishing materials, furnishing), building operation (ventilation operation and maintenance, hygiene maintenance, access control for hospital users), and occupants' characteristics (occupant activities, medical activities, adaptive behavior) to hospital IAQ. Despite the growing pool of IAQ literature, some important areas within hospitals (outpatient departments) and several key IAQ elements (dimensional aspects, room configurations, building materials, ventilation practices, adaptive behavior) remain understudied. Ventilation for hospitals continues to be challenging, as elevated levels of carbon monoxide, bioaerosols, and chemical compounds persist in indoor air despite having mechanical ventilation systems in place. To curb this public health issue, policy makers should champion implementing hospital IAQ surveillance system for all areas of the hospital building, applying interdisciplinary knowledge during the hospital design, construction and operation phase, and training of hospital staff with regards to operation, maintenance, and building control manipulation. Multipronged strategies targeting these important determinants are believed to be a viable strategy for the future control and improvement of hospital IAQ. Copyright © 2022 Ibrahim, Samsudin, Ishak and Sathasivam.
ISSN:22962565
DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1067764