The Prevelence of SBS and Absenteeism among Children in Urban Refurbished Private Preshools

¹ University Science Malaysia, School of Housing Building & Planning, Building Technology Department, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
² University of Malaya, Faculty of Built Environment, Building Performance and Diagnostic, 50603 Kuala Lumpur
³ Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

^a Corresponding author: naziahmsalleh@usm.my

Abstract

The preschool education is compulsory to children in Malaysia. This regulation has encouraged more premises to be refurbished as a pre-school building. This paper examines the pupils’ absenteeism and the prevalence of Sick Building Symptoms (SBS) initiated in congested private preschool with different ventilation strategies. The study analysed data from the attendance record of 10 classrooms and the questionnaire surveys administered to 151 parents about their children health symptoms once they were leaving the schools building. Questions on SBS used 5-point likert scale with symptoms concern on nose, eye, head, throat, skin, breath and tiredness. The descriptive and chi-square test applied to obtain the association of SBS and ventilation strategies in the classrooms. With quantitative and qualitative explanation, the unhealthy environment in refurbished pre-schools explained. Running nose, coughing and sore throat frequently reported in air-conditioning (AC) classrooms. The higher absent rate found in AC classrooms. These symptoms show there were weaknesses in ventilation performance and environment in the selected preschools. Further analyses on objective measurements in future research are strongly recommended.