Background There is a large demand for vegetables in China. Greenhouses are widely used for its function of keeping warm. However, pesticides sprayed in the enclosed sheds with high temperature and high humidity may enter workers' body through respiratory tract and skin contact, which may cause adverse health effects.
Objective This study is conducted to understand the respiratory system health of greenhouse practitioners in Yinchuan, and explore the influencing factors of respiratory diseases.
Methods According to geographical location code, four villages were randomly selected out of 17 villages with vegetable greenhouses installed in Yinchuan each year from 2015 to 2017. Then, a resident group was randomly selected from each village, and a total of 900 greenhouse workers were selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Their general demographic characteristics, living habits, pesticide use behavior, and prevalence of respiratory diseases were obtained by a questionnaire survey. A total of 885 valid questionnaires (98.3%) were returned. The influencing factors of respiratory diseases of the greenhouse practitioners were analyzed by stepwise logistic regression.
Results There were 86 patients reporting respiratory diseases (9.7%). The prevalence rate of respiratory diseases in male workers was 11.8%, higher than that in female workers (7.5%) (χ2=4.840, P < 0.05). Most greenhouse workers had a primary school education or below (59.9%), were at or over 40 years of age (77.3%), and did not have exercise habit (82.7%). The prevalence rate of respiratory diseases was higher among smokers than among non-smokers (12.5% vs 7.7%, χ2=5.796, P < 0.05) and higher among drinkers than among non-drinkers (20.4% vs 3.9%, χ2=4.077, P < 0.05). The prevalence rates of respiratory diseases among groups with different working postures were significantly different (χ2=10.914, P < 0.05). Compared with spraying pesticides when spotting pests, spraying regularly was a protective factor of respiratory diseases for the greenhouse workers (OR=0.545, 95% CI:0.314-0.946); no significant ORs were found for the other demographic characteristics, living habits, and pesticide use behaviors.
Conclusion The behavior of regular spraying of pesticides on workers in warm sheds will have a certain effect on their respiratory system.
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