Avaliação da prevalência de sintomas respiratórios em trabalhadores rurais expostos ao uso de agrotóxicos no Vale de Cuncas, Barro-CE.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The use of agrochemicals in agriculture has been gaining more and more space. Among this practice problems are the deleterious effects on the population health, in particular of the farmers who deal directly with these substances. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in rural workers exposed to pesticides in the Cuncas valley, Barro - CE. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach was carried out with two groups of individuals living in the Cuncas Valley - CE. It is composed by all the farmers (50 in total) who worked directly with pesticides in the tomato plantation and the second group of 50 individuals resident in the area who do not use pesticides. For data collection, three types of questionnaires were used: a biodemographic questionnaire, applied with the purpose of characterizing the population studied; a questionnaire on the use of pesticides and their effects on health; and finally the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRH) to assess the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in this population. Data collection was done by the researchers. It was used descriptive analysis of the study variables. The qualitative variables were presented in terms of their absolute and relative values, the quantitative ones in terms of central tendency and dispersion. The association between the qualitative variables was verified through the Chi-Square test or the Fisher exact test. The univariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the risk factors for the development of respiratory symptoms. The level of significance was 5%. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences (p <0.003) where the highest prevalence was observed in the non-exposed group. Regarding the variables cough, dyspnoea, chest wheezing and tachypnea, there were no statistically difference between the groups (p>0.05). There were difference in the following variables: waking up with cough crisis in the last 6 months (p=0.036); cough for more than three months a year in the last 2 years (p <0.001); and catarrh in the chest for more than three months in the last 2 years (p <0.001). For all these variables there were higher prevalence for non-exposed group. Logistic regression identified a higher risk of respiratory symptoms among smokers than farmers exposed to agrochemicals, explaining the higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms among non-exposed individuals. The study revealed a positive chance among farmers exposed to agrochemicals for the development of: wheezing or wheezing in the last six months; wake up with tightness or chest pressure in the last six months; wake up with a shortness of breath in the last six months; wake up with a cough crisis in the last six months; develop allergic or allergic rhinitis; develop cough for three months a year in the last two years; phlegm for more than three months in the last two years. Only in the exposed group, the lack of clothes care and not used IPE were the risk factors for respiratory disease. CONCLUSION: The agrochemicals used in the agricultural affected the respiratory function, especially, when it was not used the protection measures.