Satya Sai Minnikanti Venkata, Revati G Devi, Ramya R, Swaroop Ann Mary, Maheswari Eswaran, Kumar Mudigubba Manoj
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, M. S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2019 Jan-Apr;23(1):32-36. doi: 10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_121_18.
Farmers are extensively using pesticides for pest control in agriculture. Their precarious handling practices may lead to higher exposure resulting in adverse health effects.
Current study was aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding pesticide usage and its toxic effects by farmers.
Cross sectional.
Rural village in south Karnataka.
Sample size: 171 farmers, Data collection: face to face standardized validated questionnaire.
Chi-square test.
A total of 118 males and 53 females participated in this study with median age of 40 years. About 61% of the farmers knew the harmful effects of pesticides. However, 22% of them were mixing the pesticides using their bare hands and 26% were not wearing any protective clothing during spraying pesticides. Around 67% were carelessly disposing the leftover pesticides in the open fields. Skin problems and neurological system disturbances were the most common pesticide related health symptoms. Equipment washing practices ( < 0.05) and protective clothing ( < 0.03) were significant predictors of health related problems. Significant associations were found between the occurrence of headache and equipment washing practices ( < 0.03), storage of pesticide remains ( < 0.02) and protective clothing ( < 0.01).
These findings showed that knowledge level is adequate among farmers but this did not reflect in their practice. There is a need for continuous pesticide safety education along with training to the farmers regarding use of personal protective devices, personal hygiene and sanitation practices during and after application of pesticides.
农民在农业生产中广泛使用农药来控制害虫。他们不稳定的操作方式可能导致更高的接触量，从而产生不良健康影响。
本研究旨在评估农民关于农药使用及其毒性作用的知识、态度和实践。
横断面研究。
卡纳塔克邦南部的一个乡村。
样本量：171名农民，数据收集：面对面标准化验证问卷。
卡方检验。
共有118名男性和53名女性参与本研究，中位年龄为40岁。约61%的农民知晓农药的有害影响。然而，其中22%的人徒手混合农药，26%的人在喷洒农药时未穿戴任何防护服。约67%的人随意将剩余农药丢弃在露天田地。皮肤问题和神经系统紊乱是最常见的与农药相关的健康症状。设备清洗操作（<0.05）和防护服（<0.03）是健康相关问题的显著预测因素。在头痛的发生与设备清洗操作（<0.03）、农药残留物的储存（<0.02）和防护服（<0.01）之间发现了显著关联。
这些研究结果表明，农民的知识水平足够，但这并未在他们的实践中体现出来。需要对农民持续进行农药安全教育，并培训他们在使用农药期间和之后使用个人防护设备、个人卫生和环境卫生实践的相关知识。
