Donham K J, Mutel C F
J Fam Pract. 1982 Mar;14(3):511-20.
Agricultural medicine encompasses, the anticipation, recognition, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and community health aspects of health problems peculiar to agricultural populations. Members of the agricultural population have been heretofore ignored in organized health efforts unless they happened to also be a member of a social, racial, or economic minority. However, members of the agricultural population encounter daily a variety of occupational and environmental health hazards, such as toxic chemicals and zoonotic infectious agents. The health status of the agricultural subgroup of the rural population is poorer than is commonly believed. For example, compared with other populations, members of this subgroup have excess rates of chronic illness, excess disability from respiratory conditions, and the highest death rate from occupationally related accidents. If a true improvement in the health of the agricultural population is to be realized, then its unique health problems must be recognized, and specific clinical, preventive, and community health aspects of its problems must be dealt with.
农业医学涵盖农业人口特有的健康问题在预期、识别、诊断、治疗、预防以及社区健康等方面的内容。此前，农业人口在有组织的健康工作中一直被忽视，除非他们恰好也是某个社会、种族或经济少数群体的成员。然而，农业人口每天都会遇到各种职业和环境健康危害，例如有毒化学品和人畜共患传染病原体。农村人口中的农业亚群体的健康状况比人们普遍认为的要差。例如，与其他人群相比，该亚群体成员的慢性病发病率更高、呼吸系统疾病导致的残疾更多，且与职业相关事故的死亡率最高。如果要真正改善农业人口的健康状况，就必须认识到其独特的健康问题，并应对其问题在临床、预防和社区健康等方面的具体情况。
