Study of pesticide use behaviors and health status among agriculturist Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to study pesticide use behaviors and health status among agriculturists in Phimai district, Nakhon Ratchasima province. This study has used a questionnaire to collect data consisted of 3 parts including demographic characteristics, health status pesticide-related illnesses within 1 year, and pesticide use behaviors through face-to-face interviews among 259 agriculturists. Descriptive statistics were used to describe information including frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, maximum, and minimum. The finding revealed that most agriculturists were male (78.8%), aged range 41-50 years (34.7%), and graduated primary school (79.5%). Most of them had range household income per month 6,001-12,000 baths at 45.9% and used pesticides more than 10 years 46.7% with herbicide at 76.6%. The health status: symptoms after pesticide application within 1-year indicated that agriculturists had a headache (74.3%), dizziness (66.6%), and skin rash (51.2%). The pesticide used behavior at 3 aspects found that (1) general behavior regarding pesticides was a high level at 57.5%, (2) behavior regarding substance use and prevention from pesticides was a high level at 71.8%, and (3) behavior regarding the effect of pesticides on health was a medium level at 68.0%. Overall, the behavior of using pesticides of farmers was a high level at 61.4%. Even though the agriculturists had pesticide use behaviors at a high level, but some practice of pesticides was inappropriate which is still has high illness cases of pesticide poisoning. Therefore, the relevant organizations should have yearly training on pesticides, especially before the cultivation season begin. This might increase awareness of self-protection and reduce potential health problems arising from pesticide application.