Introduction : Occupational related respiratory health disorders in farmers is a highly unrecognized problem in our country. Objectives : We tried to find out some of the occupational, demographic and social factors that might be associated to these problems. Methods : Applying a questionnaire based on that used in NHANES III study, in the dairy farming population of two rural areas (245 subjects), we assessed the presence of respiratory symptoms suggestive for chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, rhinitis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis and the association between these symptoms and different factors like: gender, level of education, marital status, years lived on a farm location, principal occupation, days worked on farm during the past year, average hours worked per season, total years of life involved in agriculture, lifetime main, non-farm employment experience and work during the past year not on farm. Results : Respiratory symptoms were found in 43 farmers (11.55%). They were associated with a lower level of education (72.1% vs. 44.1%; p=0.000), lesser days worked on farm during the past year (27.9% vs. 7.92%; p=0.000), with a lower number of hours worked in the spring (8.25±2.57 vs. 9.47±2.93; p=0.007), and a higher number of years lived on a farm (64.04±6.37 vs. 56.55±15.61; p=0.000). There were no statistical correlations with the other factors studied (p>0.05). Conclusions : Our results suggest that a longer life lived on farm might be associated with respiratory health problems and that education (high school or higher) might be a protective factor. Also, these health disorders might induce an increase in number of days away from work, especially in the spring time.
Rajnoveanu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.