Ag Health and Safety Alliance™, Greenville, Iowa, USA.
Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH), University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2023 Sep;66(9):794-804. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23515. Epub 2023 Jul 13.
In this study, we evaluated self-reported respiratory symptoms during agricultural work, respiratory protection use and experience, and perceived value of receiving respirators using Gear Up for Ag Health and Safety Program™ pre- and post-surveys from 703 to 212 young adult hog producers in the United States. To our knowledge, this is one of the most extensive survey data sets on self-reported respiratory symptoms and respiratory protection behaviors of collegiate-aged young adults working in US livestock production.
About one-third (37%) of young adult hog producers stated that they have experienced cough, shortness of breath, fever, and chills after working in dusty areas on the farm. Most (76.2%) stated that they were already "always" or "sometimes" wearing filtering facepiece (N95-style) respirators, even before participating in an outreach program. About one-third (30%) reported experience wearing a cartridge-style respirator but only 5% reported having been fit-tested for a respirator. Young adult male producers were significantly more likely to report use of both respirator types when compared to females, both before and after the program. Male producers were also more likely than females to engage in high-risk farm tasks where respirators are recommended, such as cleaning out grain bins and mixing or grinding feed. Following an educational program, males and females reported using the respirators that they received at similar rates, and 20% of overall participants purchased additional respiratory protection.
The study found that young adult hog producers in postsecondary education are already wearing respirators with some frequency and at rates higher than previously reported by agricultural workers. More research is needed to make effective task-based respirator-use recommendations and investigate some significant gender differences among young adult hog producers observed in this study.
本研究通过对美国 703 名至 212 名年轻成年生猪养殖户进行《农业健康与安全计划（Gear Up for Ag Health and Safety Program）》的预调查和后调查，评估了他们在农业工作期间报告的呼吸症状、呼吸防护用品的使用和体验，以及对获得呼吸防护用品的价值感知。据我们所知，这是针对美国牲畜生产中大学生年龄的年轻成年工人报告的呼吸症状和呼吸防护行为的最广泛的调查数据集之一。
约三分之一（37%）的年轻成年生猪养殖户表示，他们在农场灰尘弥漫的区域工作后出现咳嗽、呼吸急促、发烧和发冷等症状。大多数（76.2%）表示，他们已经“总是”或“有时”佩戴过滤式面罩（N95 式）呼吸器，甚至在参加外展计划之前。约三分之一（30%）报告曾佩戴过罐式呼吸器，但只有 5%的人报告曾接受过呼吸器适配性测试。与女性相比，男性养殖户在参加该计划前后报告使用这两种呼吸器的可能性显著更高。男性养殖户比女性养殖户更有可能从事推荐使用呼吸器的高风险农场任务，例如清理谷仓和混合或研磨饲料。在接受教育计划后，男性和女性报告以相似的比率使用他们收到的呼吸器，并且 20%的参与者购买了额外的呼吸防护用品。
研究发现，接受高等教育的年轻成年生猪养殖户已经在一定频率和高于之前农业工人报告的比率下佩戴呼吸器。需要进行更多的研究，以便能够提出基于任务的有效的呼吸器使用建议，并调查在这项研究中观察到的年轻成年生猪养殖户中存在的一些显著性别差异。
