Design and Feasibility Evaluation of Self-Reporting Application for Indoor Air Quality and Health Measures

Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays an important role in human health as people spend the majority of their time indoors. A self-reporting application was developed to collect long-term perceived IAQ data and symptoms caused by poor IAQ immediately at the onset of symptoms. The feasibility of the application was tested in a real-world environment by four teachers in two school buildings for 18 weeks. The participants received two questionnaire notifications per day to answer IAQ, symptoms, productivity, stress, sleep, and pupil concentration/restlessness related questions. They were also able to report those issues any other time. During the pilot, the participants answered 569 questionnaires in the application. They found the application to be usable and useful, however, the frequency of questionnaire notifications became heavy, because the perceived IAQ did not change much. The feasibility study showed the potential of the self-reporting application to capture perceived IAQ and symptoms, promptly enabling fast reaction to possible problems in IAQ.