How to reduce pesticide exposure in farmers: An interventional study

Pesticide poisoning is a serious public health problem.

The aim was to investigate the effect of safe pesticide application training given to farmers on their behaviors towards compliance with protective measures.

In this interventional study, the target population was 9750 farmers living in Turkey. To achieve a study power of 95%, type I error and the effect size were assumed as 5% and 0.50 respectively. In the study, 61 farmers were selected using the systematic sampling method. Farmers were interviewed twice, before and after the training, and at each interview, they were asked questions about their pesticide use-related behaviors in the last four sprayings. In the analysis, the paired t-test, repeated measures of ANOVA (post hoc: Bonferroni) were used.

The scores the participants obtained from the Pesticide Exposure Prevention Behavior Form which questions their compliance with protective measures taken during pesticide applications at the post-interview were significantly higher than were the scores they obtained at the pre-interview (P < 0.001). The analysis of the independent variables demonstrated that the scores obtained from the Pesticide Exposure Prevention Behavior Form at the post-interview were significantly different from those obtained at the pre-interview in almost all of the subgroups in terms of their sociodemographic characteristics.

It was observed that the training given to the farmers on the safe use of pesticides encouraged the farmers to develop positive behavioral changes. The study emphasizes the importance of implementing ongoing health education programs for farmers.