Objective To investigate the self-reported health status of employees at different public places in Deyang, China, put forward intervention measures for health influencing factors.

Methods A total of 50 hotels, bathing places, swimming pools, beauty salons, barbershops, shopping malls (supermarkets), gyms and waiting rooms in Deyang were selected in 2022. Ten employees with a length of service of more than 1 year were randomly selected at each place, and a questionnaire survey was conducted for the health status of the employees (the actual number of employees was recorded if there were less than 10 employees). A total of 648 employees were surveyed in terms of basic information, sanitary conditions of working environment, and health-related behaviors. The chi-square test was used for comparison of the self-report rate of adverse symptoms, and the multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors for the adverse symptoms of employees.

Results In 2022, among the employees at 50 public places belonging to 8 categories in Deyang, 310 employees (47.8%) had adverse symptoms in the past month, while 338 (52.2%) without adverse symptoms. The chi-square analysis showed that noise pollution, humid environment, flies, rats or cockroaches, poor ventilation, mildew, abnormal taste of tap water, actively wearing protective masks during work, frequent exercise within one month, passive smoking, and drinking had significant impacts on the self-report rate of adverse symptoms (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that humid environment (odds ratioOR=3.474, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.707-7.071) and passive smoking (OR=1.806, 95% CI: 1.249-2.610) were risk factors for adverse symptoms in employees, and actively wearing protective masks during work (OR=0.114, 95% CI: 0.031-0.417) and regular exercise (OR=0.648, 95% CI: 0.429-0.981) were protective factors against adverse symptoms in employees.

Conclusion There is a relatively low self-report rate of adverse symptoms among employees at public places in Deyang, and humid environment, wearing protective masks during work, personal health behavior, and passive smoking are influencing factors. The management department should ensure a good working environment, strengthen the training of health knowledge for employees, and make sure to adopt standardized personal protection measures, so as to protect the health of employees.