Work-related respiratory symptoms in New Zealand farmers
Background The first national survey of the respiratory health of New Zealand farmers looked at the prevalence of respiratory symptoms by farm type and work exposure. Methods An 8‐page questionnaire was mailed to 2,203 farmers randomly selected from all over New Zealand. Results Response rate was 77...
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Published in | American journal of industrial medicine Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 292 - 300 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
01.03.2001
Wiley-Liss |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
The first national survey of the respiratory health of New Zealand farmers looked at the prevalence of respiratory symptoms by farm type and work exposure.
Methods
An 8‐page questionnaire was mailed to 2,203 farmers randomly selected from all over New Zealand.
Results
Response rate was 77.6% of 2,203, or 1,706 participants. Breathing problems at work were reported by 17.6% of farmers. Working with oats was strongly associated with work‐related breathing problems (OR = 3.3, 2.1–5.2). Dyspnea was more common in female farmers, whereas chronic bronchitis was higher in males. Orchardists (OR = 2.3, 1.3–4.0), those growing oat crops (OR = 3.0, 1.7–5.4) and using the grain mill (OR = 2.8, 1.3–6.3) reported the highest symptom rates of ODTS/FL. Having hay fever or eczema, and smoking were risk factors for all respiratory symptoms.
Conclusions
Working in the areas of pigs, poultry, horses, grains, and hay are associated with respiratory symptoms in New Zealand farmers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 39:292–300, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. |
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Bibliography: | ArticleID:AJIM1017 istex:4CCAD297A24FA5DB8F98B536FABFCDC61E62C3A9 ark:/67375/WNG-L28W761J-6 Health Research Council of New Zealand ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0271-3586 1097-0274 |
DOI: | 10.1002/1097-0274(200103)39:3<292::AID-AJIM1017>3.0.CO;2-F |