Environmental Health (EH) Departments devote considerable resources to investigating domestic noise complaints. In 1989-90 Environmental Health Officers in England and Wales received 97,798 noise complaints, of which 61% were about domestic noise [1]. The object of investigating a complaint is to determine whether a statutory nuisance exists. In practice, this depends on the judgement of the En...

This study aimed to investigate the subjective health complaints (SHC) in the teaching profession of Hong Kong. On the basis of the SHC inventory, a questionnaire was prepared for data collection through a mail survey. A total of 1710 usable questionnaires were returned by the primary or secondary school teachers. The results showed that 99.5% (n = 1702) of respondents suffered at least one typ...

PURPOSE Proactive care for community-dwelling older persons targeting self-reported hindering health complaints might prevent a decline in function. We investigated the spectrum of self-reported hindering complaints of community-dwelling older persons, the association with functional outcomes, and help-seeking behavior for these complaints. METHODS Within the ISCOPE trial, participants (aged ...

BACKGROUND It is unclear whether the well-known risk factors for the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) also play an important role in the determining consequences of MSD in terms of sickness absence and health care use. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among 853 shipyard employees. Data were collected by questionnaire on physical and psychosocial workload, need for re...

Subjective health complaints without or with minimal somatic findings (pain, fatigue) are common and frequent reasons for encounter with the general practitioner and for long-term sickness leave and disability. The complaints are often attributed to the stressors of modern life. Is this true? We interviewed 120 Aborigine Mangyans (native population, M age = 33.5 years, 72.5% women) living under...

BACKGROUND Many patients have complex health complaints they attribute to dental amalgam. There is some evidence of symptom relief after removal of amalgam. OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to assess the total symptom load in patients with all their amalgam fillings removed, and to investigate the self-reported improvement of health with regard to precautions taken under amalgam removal ...

With an ageing population and a decline in cardiac mortality rates, the number of patients with cardiac disease is increasing, which in turn poses a major challenge for secondary prevention. For this end, appropriate, sensitive, and validated instruments to assess health complaints and quality of life are required. The objectives of the current study were: (1) to cross-validate the Health Compl...