{"id":{"repo_id":"aachen","oai_identifier":"oai:publications.rwth-aachen.de:61691"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/aachen/oai:publications.rwth-aachen.de:61691","repository":{"repo_id":"aachen","name":"RWTH Aachen University","base_url":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/oai2d"},"display":{"title":"Charakterisierung der Lebensgewohnheiten und des Lebensumfeldes von Patienten mit selbstberichteter Multipler Chemikaliensensitivität (sMCS)","abstract":"Introduction: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a syndrome with many speculations about etiology, risk factors and pathomechanism, but few scientifically consolidated findings. Therefore living conditions and living factors of persons with self-reported MCS (sMCS) in comparison to a control group of the same anthroposphere were systematically investigated. Research methods: In a case-control study patients with sMCS were investigated in comparison to a not MCS affected control group of the same anthroposphere. The sMCS group was characterized using the modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. concerning symptom inducing substances. The data about living conditions and living factors was collected by a posted questionnaire all participants filled in personally. The dependence of questionnaire-obtained living conditions and living factors on sMCS and controls were analyzed with Pearson’s chi²-, Fisher’s exact- and Mann-Whitney-U-test. Results: The sMCS group consists of 59 persons concerned (14 men, 45 women, mean age: 48.4 ± 9.4 years), the control group of 40 persons (14 men, 26 women, mean age: 43.9 ± 9.0 years). The modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. differentiated between the sMCS and control group with 91.8% sensitivity and 83.9% specifity. The observed differences in living conditions and living factors between cases and controls regarded mainly nutrition (e.g., more special nutrition habit of sMCS-affected persons), social area (e.g., more invalidity allowance of sMCS-affected persons), odorous annoyance (e.g., lesser use of universal cleaners by sMCS-affected persons) and dental prothesis (e.g., fewer amalgam fillings in sMCS-affected persons). Altogether, compared to the control group the sMCS-affected persons had worse social conditions and lower exposures, esp. to odorous factors. Conclusion: Exposures which might possibly be causative for MCS could not be observed. Even if an exogenous cause of MCS should not exist, a special susceptibility could still be a possible etiologic factor. Under this suspicion further investigations should focus on genetics and polymorphisms of the metabolism of foreign substances. The low exposures of the sMCS-affected persons seem to be a result of avoidance behavior of sMCS-affected persons. The low exposure to odorous factors fits in the hypothesis that the olfactory systems might be involved in the pathogenesis and/or pathophysiology of MCS.","abstract_html":"Introduction: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a syndrome with many speculations about etiology, risk factors and pathomechanism, but few scientifically consolidated findings. Therefore living conditions and living factors of persons with self-reported MCS (sMCS) in comparison to a control group of the same anthroposphere were systematically investigated. Research methods: In a case-control study patients with sMCS were investigated in comparison to a not MCS affected control group of the same anthroposphere. The sMCS group was characterized using the modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. concerning symptom inducing substances. The data about living conditions and living factors was collected by a posted questionnaire all participants filled in personally. The dependence of questionnaire-obtained living conditions and living factors on sMCS and controls were analyzed with Pearson’s chi²-, Fisher’s exact- and Mann-Whitney-U-test. Results: The sMCS group consists of 59 persons concerned (14 men, 45 women, mean age: 48.4 ± 9.4 years), the control group of 40 persons (14 men, 26 women, mean age: 43.9 ± 9.0 years). The modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. differentiated between the sMCS and control group with 91.8% sensitivity and 83.9% specifity. The observed differences in living conditions and living factors between cases and controls regarded mainly nutrition (e.g., more special nutrition habit of sMCS-affected persons), social area (e.g., more invalidity allowance of sMCS-affected persons), odorous annoyance (e.g., lesser use of universal cleaners by sMCS-affected persons) and dental prothesis (e.g., fewer amalgam fillings in sMCS-affected persons). Altogether, compared to the control group the sMCS-affected persons had worse social conditions and lower exposures, esp. to odorous factors. Conclusion: Exposures which might possibly be causative for MCS could not be observed. Even if an exogenous cause of MCS should not exist, a special susceptibility could still be a possible etiologic factor. Under this suspicion further investigations should focus on genetics and polymorphisms of the metabolism of foreign substances. The low exposures of the sMCS-affected persons seem to be a result of avoidance behavior of sMCS-affected persons. The low exposure to odorous factors fits in the hypothesis that the olfactory systems might be involved in the pathogenesis and/or pathophysiology of MCS.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Weißbach, Wibke"],"institution":"Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wiesmüller, Gerhard Andreas"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006","date_published":"2006","updated_at":"2026-07-30T19:43:10Z","subjects":["info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/610","Medizin","Fragebogen","Exposition","Lebensgewohnheiten","Lebensumfeld","Multiple chemical sensitivity","living conditions","living factors"],"languages":["ger"],"rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-123327%22"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-123327%22","href":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-123327%22","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/61691","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wiesmüller, Gerhard Andreas"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Weißbach, Wibke"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:coverage","label":"Dc Coverage","values":["DE"]},{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2006"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:de:hbz:82-opus-18062"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis","info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/610","Medizin","Fragebogen","Exposition","Lebensgewohnheiten","Lebensumfeld","Multiple chemical sensitivity","living conditions","living factors"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["ger"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/61691","https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-123327%22"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Introduction: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a syndrome with many speculations about etiology, risk factors and pathomechanism, but few scientifically consolidated findings. Therefore living conditions and living factors of persons with self-reported MCS (sMCS) in comparison to a control group of the same anthroposphere were systematically investigated. Research methods: In a case-control study patients with sMCS were investigated in comparison to a not MCS affected control group of the same anthroposphere. The sMCS group was characterized using the modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. concerning symptom inducing substances. The data about living conditions and living factors was collected by a posted questionnaire all participants filled in personally. The dependence of questionnaire-obtained living conditions and living factors on sMCS and controls were analyzed with Pearson’s chi²-, Fisher’s exact- and Mann-Whitney-U-test. Results: The sMCS group consists of 59 persons concerned (14 men, 45 women, mean age: 48.4 ± 9.4 years), the control group of 40 persons (14 men, 26 women, mean age: 43.9 ± 9.0 years). The modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. differentiated between the sMCS and control group with 91.8% sensitivity and 83.9% specifity. The observed differences in living conditions and living factors between cases and controls regarded mainly nutrition (e.g., more special nutrition habit of sMCS-affected persons), social area (e.g., more invalidity allowance of sMCS-affected persons), odorous annoyance (e.g., lesser use of universal cleaners by sMCS-affected persons) and dental prothesis (e.g., fewer amalgam fillings in sMCS-affected persons). Altogether, compared to the control group the sMCS-affected persons had worse social conditions and lower exposures, esp. to odorous factors. Conclusion: Exposures which might possibly be causative for MCS could not be observed. Even if an exogenous cause of MCS should not exist, a special susceptibility could still be a possible etiologic factor. Under this suspicion further investigations should focus on genetics and polymorphisms of the metabolism of foreign substances. The low exposures of the sMCS-affected persons seem to be a result of avoidance behavior of sMCS-affected persons. The low exposure to odorous factors fits in the hypothesis that the olfactory systems might be involved in the pathogenesis and/or pathophysiology of MCS."]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Aachen : Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University 118 S. : graph. Darst. (2006). = Aachen, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2006"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Charakterisierung der Lebensgewohnheiten und des Lebensumfeldes von Patienten mit selbstberichteter Multipler Chemikaliensensitivität (sMCS)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wiesmüller, Gerhard Andreas"],"dc:coverage":["DE"],"dc:creator":["Weißbach, Wibke"],"dc:date":["2006"],"dc:description":["Introduction: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a syndrome with many speculations about etiology, risk factors and pathomechanism, but few scientifically consolidated findings. Therefore living conditions and living factors of persons with self-reported MCS (sMCS) in comparison to a control group of the same anthroposphere were systematically investigated. Research methods: In a case-control study patients with sMCS were investigated in comparison to a not MCS affected control group of the same anthroposphere. The sMCS group was characterized using the modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. concerning symptom inducing substances. The data about living conditions and living factors was collected by a posted questionnaire all participants filled in personally. The dependence of questionnaire-obtained living conditions and living factors on sMCS and controls were analyzed with Pearson’s chi²-, Fisher’s exact- and Mann-Whitney-U-test. Results: The sMCS group consists of 59 persons concerned (14 men, 45 women, mean age: 48.4 ± 9.4 years), the control group of 40 persons (14 men, 26 women, mean age: 43.9 ± 9.0 years). The modified MCS-questionnaire from Hüppe et al. differentiated between the sMCS and control group with 91.8% sensitivity and 83.9% specifity. The observed differences in living conditions and living factors between cases and controls regarded mainly nutrition (e.g., more special nutrition habit of sMCS-affected persons), social area (e.g., more invalidity allowance of sMCS-affected persons), odorous annoyance (e.g., lesser use of universal cleaners by sMCS-affected persons) and dental prothesis (e.g., fewer amalgam fillings in sMCS-affected persons). Altogether, compared to the control group the sMCS-affected persons had worse social conditions and lower exposures, esp. to odorous factors. Conclusion: Exposures which might possibly be causative for MCS could not be observed. Even if an exogenous cause of MCS should not exist, a special susceptibility could still be a possible etiologic factor. Under this suspicion further investigations should focus on genetics and polymorphisms of the metabolism of foreign substances. The low exposures of the sMCS-affected persons seem to be a result of avoidance behavior of sMCS-affected persons. The low exposure to odorous factors fits in the hypothesis that the olfactory systems might be involved in the pathogenesis and/or pathophysiology of MCS."],"dc:identifier":["https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/61691","https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-123327%22"],"dc:language":["ger"],"dc:publisher":["Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University"],"dc:relation":["info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:de:hbz:82-opus-18062"],"dc:rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"dc:source":["Aachen : Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University 118 S. : graph. Darst. (2006). = Aachen, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2006"],"dc:subject":["info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/610","Medizin","Fragebogen","Exposition","Lebensgewohnheiten","Lebensumfeld","Multiple chemical sensitivity","living conditions","living factors"],"dc:title":["Charakterisierung der Lebensgewohnheiten und des Lebensumfeldes von Patienten mit selbstberichteter Multipler Chemikaliensensitivität (sMCS)"],"dc:type":["info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis","info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-30T19:43:10Z"}