Objective To estimate the prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms and related influencing factors among hotel employees in China.
Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to randomly select a total of 5 528 employees from 543 hotels nationwide in 2017. Self-reported general information, respiratory feelings or symptoms, and workplace environment of employees were collected through questionnaires. Chi-square test was applied to compare the prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms among different gender, age, length of service, and education groups. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze potential demographic and workplace factors associated with reported respiratory symptoms.
Results Among the enrolled employees, 83.00% were women, 45.22% were over 40 years old, and 76.23% had middle or high school degrees. The top three self-reported respiratory symptoms were sneezing (806, 14.58%), dry throat (539, 9.75%), and runny nose (537, 9.71%). The top three environmental risk factors in workplace were dry air (852, 15.41%), airborne dust (700, 12.66%), and fluctuating surrounding temperature (388, 7.02%). The results of chi-square analyses showed that there were no significant differences in the prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms among employees categorized by gender, age, length of service, and education (P > 0.05), and the results of single-factor logistic regression analyses indicated that demographic characteristics were not associated with self-reported respiratory symptoms (P > 0.05). The results of multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that environmental factors such as dry air (OR:2.636, 95%CI:2.233-3.111), airborne dust (OR:2.634, 95%CI:2.231-3.110), and fluctuating surrounding temperature (OR:1.636, 95%CI:1.256-2.132) were risk factors for self-reported respiratory symptoms.
Conclusion Varied respiratory symptoms are reported in hotel employees. Airborn dust, dry air, and fluctuating surrounding temperature in workplace are the main influencing factors for self-reported respiratory symptoms in the employees.
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