Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in Malaysian Kindergarten: A Thematic Review

Abstract

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an essential component of a healthy indoor environment , which is necessary for occupants’ comfort and well-being. The poor IAQ in kindergartens has a negative effect on children’s learning performance and increases their chance of developing asthma  and other respiratory diseases which cause absenteeism. Since children spend a significant amount of time in kindergartens, it is important to acknowledge studies have been conducted and have identified the needs for IAQ improvement. This paper explores the IAQ research patterns in Malaysia from 2010 to 2021 using thematic review. The themed review was conducted by examining  articles  from four electronic databases: Web of Science, Science Direct, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. Information on IAQ in kindergarten were extracted from 22 studies, which identified four main themes: indoor air contaminants, indoor air exposure, physical environment, and intervention. The findings will be useful in future studies on IAQ in the kindergarten environment besides determining areas that required further investigation.