Indoor Air Quality Risk Assessment and Modeling in Healthcare Facilities: A Systematic Review and Analysis

The presence of an extensive range of chemicals in healthcare facilities leads to repeated inhalation of polluted air. This affects the functionality of the respiratory system, including mental health, physical health, and overall well-being, by a considerable level. As patients in healthcare facilities are already experiencing some health issues, repeated exposure to chemicals may worsen their conditions. This systematic review provides details on the harmful chemicals present in the hospital environment while establishing a link between degraded air quality and human health. It also highlights the potential sources of toxic chemical generation in healthcare facilities and methods used by existing researchers to assess these conditions. Furthermore, the essential recommendations provided by existing researchers to improve environmental conditions in healthcare facilities are disclosed along with potential challenges that are required to be addressed. This study included analysis and synthesis regarding five different RQs from 29 research papers included as per the PRISMA methodology. 68.97% of studies report that particulate matters are the most common pollutant available in hospital environments; however, CO₂ was considered among the most prevalent pollutants by 65.52% of studies. Among the included studies, 41.4% preferred conducting medium-term monitoring and 82.8% of studies preferred considering main hospital buildings for assessment. This study will be useful for upcoming researchers, environmentalists, and government agencies to understand the public health challenges due to degraded environmental conditions.