scholarly journals Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Units—A Systematic Literature Review Focusing Recent Research

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 967
Author(s):  
Ana Fonseca ◽  
Isabel Abreu ◽  
Maria João Guerreiro ◽  
Nelson Barros

The adequate assessment and management of indoor air quality in healthcare facilities is of utmost importance for patient safety and occupational health purposes. This study aims to identify the recent trends of research on the topic through a systematic literature review following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) methodology. A total of 171 articles published in the period 2015–2020 were selected and analyzed. Results show that there is a worldwide growing research interest in this subject, dispersed in a wide variety of scientific journals. A textometric analysis using the IRaMuTeQ software revealed four clusters of topics in the sampled articles: physicochemical pollutants, design and management of infrastructures, environmental control measures, and microbiological contamination. The studies focus mainly on hospital facilities, but there is also research interest in primary care centers and dental clinics. The majority of the analyzed articles (85%) report experimental data, with the most frequently measured parameters being related to environmental quality (temperature and relative humidity), microbiological load, CO2 and particulate matter. Non-compliance with the WHO guidelines for indoor air quality is frequently reported. This study provides an overview of the recent literature on this topic, identifying promising lines of research to improve indoor air quality in healthcare facilities.

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Gaetano Settimo ◽  
Marco Gola ◽  
Stefano Capolongo

In the context of the architectures for health, it is an utmost priority to operate a regular and continuous updating of quality, efficacy, and efficiency’s processes. In fact, health promotion and prevention take place through a proper management and design of healing spaces, in particular with regard to the most sensitive users. In recent decades, there has been increasing attention to indoor air quality in healthcare facilities. Nowadays, this issue must involve the implementation of a series of appropriate interventions, with a global approach of prevention and reduction of risk factors on users’ health, which allows, in addition to a correct management of hospital settings, the realization of concrete actions. To date, in Italy, despite the indoor air being taken in consideration in numerous activities and studies aimed at understanding both building hygiene and environmental aspects, the greatest difficulty is strongly related to the absence of an integrated national policy. The scope of the paper is to underline the relevance of indoor air quality in hospital settings, highlighting the need of procedures, protocols, and tools for strengthening and improving interventions for health prevention, protection, and promotion of users.


Author(s):  
Lucia Bonadonna ◽  
Rossella Briancesco ◽  
Anna Maria Coccia ◽  
Pierluigi Meloni ◽  
Giuseppina La Rosa ◽  
...  

There is increasing evidence that indoor air quality and contaminated surfaces provide an important potential source for transmission of pathogens in hospitals. Airborne hospital microorganisms are apparently harmless to healthy people. Nevertheless, healthcare settings are characterized by different environmental critical conditions and high infective risk, mainly due to the compromised immunologic conditions of the patients that make them more vulnerable to infections. Thus, spread, survival and persistence of microbial communities are important factors in hospital environments affecting health of inpatients as well as of medical and nursing staff. In this paper, airborne and aerosolized microorganisms and their presence in hospital environments are taken into consideration, and the factors that collectively contribute to defining the infection risk in these facilities are illustrated.


Author(s):  
Paul K. Henneberger ◽  
Steven Rollins ◽  
Michael Humann ◽  
Xioaming Liang ◽  
Feng-Chiao Su ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abderrahim Lakhouit ◽  
Hanaa Hachimi ◽  
Chakib El Mokhi ◽  
Adnane Addaim ◽  
Mohamed Kaicer

UNSTRUCTURED This study investigates the importance of using engineering ventilation in healthcare settings, especially during widespread disease outbreaks such as COVID-19. Ventilation can be used to improve indoor air quality in care homes, hospitals, and quarantine locations. Although there are several different types of engineering ventilation, mechanical ventilation is most suitable for reducing the impact and spread of COVID-19 in healthcare and other facilities. However, this ventilation mode should be designed according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), with the minimum exhaust air flow measuring 5 liters per second per square meter.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (26) ◽  
pp. 4329-4343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinping Zhang ◽  
Jinhan Mo ◽  
Yuguo Li ◽  
Jan Sundell ◽  
Pawel Wargocki ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document