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

Abstract

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.

A Mixed Method Study to Explore How Maintenance Personnel Can Enhance Wildfire Smoke Resilience at Long-Term Care Facilities in the US Mountain West

“…A long-term goal of this study is to improve perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors related to the protection of IAQ during wildfire smoke events. The importance of building maintenance and operations, and the role of facility managers and maintenance personnel in protecting IAQ, have been documented [42,43], particularly for hospital systems and elderly populations in public housing [44][45][46] While aspects of a facility such as design, ventilation, envelope, and maintenance are factors that affect IAQ [47], little is known about the knowledge and perceptions of maintenance workers on IAQ and their role in protecting IAQ during wildfire smoke events.…”

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Indoor Air Contamination by Yeasts in Healthcare Facilities: Risks of Invasive Fungal Infection

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