Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, 145 N. Riverside Drive, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2020 May 13;20(1):679. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08801-7.
Adolescents are engaged in agricultural work, including pesticide application, around the world. Adolescent pesticide applicators are more likely to be exposed to pesticides than their adult counterparts because of their application practice and hygiene habits surrounding pesticide use. There is a need for low-cost interventions to reduce pesticide exposure. We evaluated a theoretically-based educational intervention to change perceptions about the risk of pesticide use and hygiene habits during and after pesticide application for adolescent and young adult pesticide applicators in Egypt.
Young adult and adolescent male pesticide applicators were given a one-hour educational intervention to inform them about the risk of pesticide use and how to reduce pesticide exposure. The median age of participants was 18 years old. Changes in perceived susceptibility and effectiveness were measured with a survey pre and post-intervention (n = 119) on the same day. The same survey (n = 95) was given 8-months post-intervention to identify sustained effects. Observational checklists of pesticide application practice were also completed during application seasons before and after the intervention.
There was an increase in the proportion of individuals who viewed pesticides as being a long-term health risk (74.7% pre-intervention to 97.9% post-intervention, McNemar test p < 0.001). This change remained significant when surveyed at the 8-month follow-up (90.5%, p < 0.001). There was also a sustained improvement regarding participants' views of proper hygiene practice surrounding pesticide application. Applicators were observed wearing goggles, shoes, and masks more frequently post-intervention.
This theoretically-based intervention is an example of a low-cost solution that can improve adolescents' and young adults' practices regarding pesticide application and personal hygiene practices during and after pesticide application. The intervention can be applied in other countries with similar safety culture surrounding pesticide application.
全球范围内，青少年都在从事农业工作，包括施药。由于青少年施药者的施药实践和使用农药时的卫生习惯，他们比成年施药者更容易接触农药。需要采取低成本的干预措施来减少农药暴露。我们评估了一种基于理论的教育干预措施，以改变埃及青少年和青年农药施药者对使用农药的风险和施药前后卫生习惯的看法。
给年轻成年和青少年男性农药施药者进行了一个小时的教育干预，告知他们使用农药的风险以及如何减少农药暴露。参与者的中位数年龄为 18 岁。在同一天进行了预干预和后干预（n=119）的调查，以衡量感知易感性和有效性的变化。在干预前后的施药季节，还完成了关于农药施用实践的观察检查表。
认为农药是长期健康风险的人数比例有所增加（干预前为 74.7%，干预后为 97.9%，McNemar 检验 p<0.001）。在 8 个月的随访调查中，这一变化仍然显著（90.5%，p<0.001）。参与者对施药前后正确卫生习惯的看法也有持续改善。施药者在干预后更频繁地佩戴护目镜、鞋子和口罩。
这种基于理论的干预措施是一种低成本解决方案的范例，可以改善青少年和青年在施药期间和之后的农药施用和个人卫生习惯。这种干预措施可以应用于其他具有类似农药使用安全文化的国家。
