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Personality, mental distress, and subjective health complaints among persons with environmental annoyance.

Österberg, Kai LU ; Persson, Roger LU orcid ; Karlson, Björn LU ; Eek, Frida LU and Örbaek, Palle LU (2007) In Human & Experimental Toxicology 26(3). p.231-241
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess possible early determinants of idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI), contributing to an integrated model for the development of IEI. Questionnaires concerning personality traits, current mental distress, subjective health complaints, work load and satisfaction, and options for recovery, were given to 84 persons from the general population attributing annoyance to (i) chemicals/smells (smell-annoyed (SA) n=29); (ii) electrical equipment (electrically annoyed (EA) n=16); and (iii) both smells and electricity (generally annoyed [GA] n=39), but otherwise healthy and in active work. Compared to referents (n=54), the EA and GA groups showed strongly elevated scores on 5/6 scales within the trait anxiety/... (More)
The aim of this study was to assess possible early determinants of idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI), contributing to an integrated model for the development of IEI. Questionnaires concerning personality traits, current mental distress, subjective health complaints, work load and satisfaction, and options for recovery, were given to 84 persons from the general population attributing annoyance to (i) chemicals/smells (smell-annoyed (SA) n=29); (ii) electrical equipment (electrically annoyed (EA) n=16); and (iii) both smells and electricity (generally annoyed [GA] n=39), but otherwise healthy and in active work. Compared to referents (n=54), the EA and GA groups showed strongly elevated scores on 5/6 scales within the trait anxiety/ neuroticism personality dimension, while the SA group had a slight elevation on only one anxiety scale. Current mental distress and subjective health complaints scores were generally elevated in the EA and GA groups, but only partially in the SA group. Higher proportions of the EA, GA, and SA groups reported low satisfaction with their work situation, including more frequent fatigue after work and a higher, and often unfulfilled, need for recovery. The findings suggest that trait anxiety is prominent already at prodromal stages of IEI, possibly indicating that trait anxiety facilitates the acquisition of attribution of health complaints to environmental factors. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
diopathic environmental intolerance, electrical hypersensitivity, multiple chemical sensitivity
in
Human & Experimental Toxicology
volume
26
issue
3
pages
231 - 241
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000245130400011
  • scopus:33947433149
ISSN
0960-3271
DOI
10.1177/0960327107070575
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0a28deec-4355-4a45-a0d9-3a8075b06a01 (old id 167567)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17439926&dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:21:09
date last changed
2022-01-28 04:54:14
@article{0a28deec-4355-4a45-a0d9-3a8075b06a01,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this study was to assess possible early determinants of idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI), contributing to an integrated model for the development of IEI. Questionnaires concerning personality traits, current mental distress, subjective health complaints, work load and satisfaction, and options for recovery, were given to 84 persons from the general population attributing annoyance to (i) chemicals/smells (smell-annoyed (SA) n=29); (ii) electrical equipment (electrically annoyed (EA) n=16); and (iii) both smells and electricity (generally annoyed [GA] n=39), but otherwise healthy and in active work. Compared to referents (n=54), the EA and GA groups showed strongly elevated scores on 5/6 scales within the trait anxiety/ neuroticism personality dimension, while the SA group had a slight elevation on only one anxiety scale. Current mental distress and subjective health complaints scores were generally elevated in the EA and GA groups, but only partially in the SA group. Higher proportions of the EA, GA, and SA groups reported low satisfaction with their work situation, including more frequent fatigue after work and a higher, and often unfulfilled, need for recovery. The findings suggest that trait anxiety is prominent already at prodromal stages of IEI, possibly indicating that trait anxiety facilitates the acquisition of attribution of health complaints to environmental factors.}},
  author       = {{Österberg, Kai and Persson, Roger and Karlson, Björn and Eek, Frida and Örbaek, Palle}},
  issn         = {{0960-3271}},
  keywords     = {{diopathic environmental intolerance; electrical hypersensitivity; multiple chemical sensitivity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{231--241}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Human & Experimental Toxicology}},
  title        = {{Personality, mental distress, and subjective health complaints among persons with environmental annoyance.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0960327107070575}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0960327107070575}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}