Building-related health problems: reflections on different symptom prevalence among pupils and teachers

The occurrence of non-specific symptoms among populations in modern buildings is common in the northern parts of the world, and is often called the Sick Building Syndrome. Many factors have been shown to be associated with the prevalence of such symptoms. Based on a case study of a primary school in subarctic Sweden, the complicated nature of building-related, non-specific symptoms is reviewed. Preventive and corrective actions in cases of sick buildings often fail. It is suggested that failures of such actions might depend on their predominant origin in biomedical models. The study therefore proposes that the combined and simultaneous use of biomedical and psychosocial models should be tried in the management of building-related health problems.