Institutional distrust and levels of functional impairment related to indoor air-associated symptoms: A Finnish population-based study

Introduction

While distrust in social institutions has been linked with poor health outcomes, this association has not been examined in relation to indoor air (IA). We investigated the relationship between functional impairment due to IA-associated symptoms and distrust in social institutions, both in general and distrust particularly in IA-related questions.

Methods

The Finnish population-based Indoor Air and Health survey (n=1750) was utilized to assess any IA-associated symptoms and functional impairment due to these symptoms within the past 12 months. The associations between levels of functional impairment and distrust in social institutions (health care, juridical system, government officials, construction business, media, and social media) were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression adjusted for gender, age, and education.

Results

Of the respondents with symptoms (23.1 %), the level of functional impairment varied from severe (1.8 %) to no impairment (4.9 %). Distrust in social institutions was more common in IA-related questions than in general. Higher levels of functional impairment were associated with increased distrust particularized in IA-related questions in other institutions except for media and social media: higher levels of functional impairment were associated with increased trust in these institutions. The strongest associations were observed with distrust in health care and government officials (aOR 4.10, 95 %CI 1.97–8.53, and aOR 3.35, 95 %CI 1.62–6.94, for those with severe impairment compared to those with no IA-associated symptoms).

Conclusions

Higher levels of self-reported functional impairment due to IA-associated symptoms were associated with decreased trust in most social institutions, but with increased trust in media and social media. These findings should be considered in communication on and prevention of IA-associated health issues.