The "sick building syndrome" is generally taken to describe a
building in which complaints of ill health are more common
than might reasonably be expected. The affected buildings are
usually offices that have full air conditioning. The excess of
complaints of ill health is not usually reflected in an increase in
sickness absence. No definition of the size of the problem has
previously been systematically attempted, although Turiel et al
noted excesses of eye, upper respiratory tract, and chest symptoms
in an open comparison of an air conditioned and a naturally
ventilated building.' In that study 62% of the workers in the
air conditioned building and 66% in the naturally ventilated
building were interviewed.