Nasrabadi Maryam, Gholian Aval Mahdi, Tajfard Mohammad, Peyman Nooshin, Tavakoly Sany Seyedeh Belin, Khodadadi Najmeh
Health Education and Health Promotion, Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Student Research Committee, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jun 6;15(1):19955. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-03734-w.
The health risks associated with excessive pesticide use have adversely affected agricultural products and human health, raising global concerns about the safety of consumers and agricultural workers. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of an educational intervention based on the health action model (HAM) on summer workers' safety behaviors regarding pesticide use. The present quasi-experimental study involved an experiment and a control group. A multi-stage random cluster sampling method was employed to select 100 farms from a total of 1000 summer vegetable farms in Mashhad through a simple randomization process. Then, 300 eligible workers were selected and allocated into an experimental group and a control group. The educational intervention consisted of two focus group discussion sessions and eight training sessions making educational training based on the HAM. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 16, and tests were chosen based on the distribution of variables. Both parametric and equivalent non-parametric tests were applied at a significance level of 0.05. Following the intervention, the mean scores of all constructs in the experimental group improved significantly, with the exception of the normative system. The educational intervention-based HAM had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on safety behavior outcomes and all knowledge-related dimensions (safe place and pesticide use, personal safety during spraying, personal safety after spraying, pesticide side effects) in the intervention group compared with the control group after the intervention, and in their change from baseline to follow-up in all scores. The mean score of safety behavior in the pre-intervention increased from 5.2 ± 1.27 to 8.1 ± 0.82 in the follow-up. However, no statistically significant difference was found in the control group. The educational program based on HAM and knowledge-related dimensions significantly improved safety behaviors among farmers and agricultural workers regarding pesticide use. This study emphasizes the need for implementing theory based- educational programs for diverse agricultural workers to enhance safety practices and reduce health risks associated with pesticide exposure.
过度使用农药带来的健康风险对农产品和人类健康产生了不利影响，引发了全球对消费者和农业工人安全的担忧。因此，本研究旨在调查基于健康行动模型（HAM）的教育干预对夏季工人农药使用安全行为的影响。本项准实验研究包括一个实验组和一个对照组。采用多阶段随机整群抽样方法，通过简单随机化过程从马什哈德的1000个夏季蔬菜农场中选取100个农场。然后，挑选出300名符合条件的工人，将其分配到实验组和对照组。教育干预包括两次焦点小组讨论会议和八次培训课程，基于HAM进行教育培训。使用SPSS 16进行数据分析，并根据变量分布选择检验方法。参数检验和等效非参数检验均在0.05的显著性水平下进行。干预后，实验组所有结构的平均得分均显著提高，但规范系统除外。与对照组相比，基于教育干预的HAM对干预组的安全行为结果以及所有与知识相关的维度（安全场所与农药使用、喷洒期间的个人安全、喷洒后的个人安全、农药副作用）在干预后以及从基线到随访的所有得分变化均有显著影响（p < 0.05）。干预前安全行为的平均得分从5.2±1.27提高到随访时的8.1±0.82。然而，对照组未发现统计学上的显著差异。基于HAM和与知识相关维度的教育项目显著改善了农民和农业工人在农药使用方面的安全行为。本研究强调需要为不同的农业工人实施基于理论的教育项目，以加强安全实践并降低与接触农药相关的健康风险。
