Effects of different occupational exposure factors on the respiratory system of farmers: the case of Central Anatolia

• Published in: Journal of public health Vol. 30; no. 9; pp. 2123 - 2131
• Main Authors: Babaoglu, Ulken Tunga, Oymak Yalcin, Sibel, Calis, Aliye Gamze, Ozgunaltay Ertugrul, Gulden, Erturk, Arzu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Chi-square test; Epidemiology; Exposure; Farmers; Farming; Farmworkers; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Occupational exposure; Occupational health; Original Article; Pesticides; Protective equipment; Public Health; Pulmonary functions; Regression analysis; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory function; Respiratory system; Signs and symptoms; Smoking; Workers; Anatolia; Spirometry; Agricultural health; Agricultural workers; Pesticide; Occupational exposure
• ISSN: 2198-1833; 1613-2238
• DOI: 10.1007/s10389-021-01554-6

Aim Past studies show that farmers are especially at risk for respiratory diseases due to occupational exposure and not using protective equipment. This study aimed to provide information about the effects of occupational pesticide exposures on the respiratory system of farmers working in Central Anatolia from a wider perspective to gain insight into the effects of pesticides and other occupational exposures on the respiratory system of farmers. Subject and methods A cross-sectional study was conduct with a representative sample size of 380 agricultural workers living in the Central Anatolia region. Data were collected with a face-to-face questionnaire and spirometry. The chi-square test was used for testing relationships between categorical variables. The Shapiro–Wilk test was conducted to investigate the distribution characteristics of FVC, FEV 1 , FEV 1 /FVC and FEF 25–75 ( p  > 0 .050), and nonparametric Mann–Whitney U tests (MW) and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to examine differences in FVC, FEV 1 , FEV 1 /FVC and FEF 25–75 between groups. Univariate analysis was performed before multiple logistic regression analyses to identify candidate variables for the final model. Results The median duration of pesticide use was 25.00 years. According to the FEV 1 of agricultural workers, 23.16% had an FEV 1 ≤ 80% predicted. The odds for FEV1 ≤ 80% predicted was 2.44 times higher for smokers (95% CI 1.2–5.0), 1.74 times higher for those with respiratory symptoms in the past 3 months (95% CI 1.1–2.9) and 5.01 times higher for those farming 30 years and more (95% CI 1.8–14.1). Conclusion The results of the study found that pulmonary function values of agricultural workers were lower compared to reference values. Lower FEV1 was associated with the duration of farming and smoking.