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Knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use among farm workers in the Gaza Strip.

ABSTRACT: AIMS:To assess knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use and exposure among 189 farm workers in the Gaza Strip. METHODS:A cross section of agricultural farm workers in the Gaza Strip were asked to fill in a questionnaire on knowledge, attitudes, practice towards pesticide use, and associated toxicity symptoms. RESULTS:Farm workers reported high levels of knowledge on the health impact of pesticides (97.9%). Moderate to high levels of knowledge were recorded on toxicity symptoms related to pesticides. Most farm workers were aware of the protective measures to be used during applying pesticides. However, no one took precautions unless they knew about the measures. Burning sensation in eyes/face was the commonest symptom (64.3%). The prevalence of self reported toxicity symptoms was dependent on mixing and use of high concentrations of pesticides. The highest percentage of self reported toxicity symptoms was found among the farm workers who returned to sprayed fields within one hour of applying pesticides. CONCLUSIONS:Farm workers in the Gaza Strip used pesticides extensively. Despite their knowledge about the adverse health impact of the pesticides, the use of protective measures was poor. Most had self reported toxicity symptoms, particularly the younger workers. It would be useful to minimise the use of pesticides and encourage alternative measures. Prevention and intervention programmes regarding the use of protective measures and monitoring the health status of farm workers should be implemented.

SUBMITTER: Yassin MM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1740291 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use among farm workers in the Gaza Strip.

Yassin M M MM Abu Mourad T A TA Safi J M JM

Occupational and environmental medicine 20020601 6

<h4>Aims</h4>To assess knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use and exposure among 189 farm workers in the Gaza Strip.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross section of agricultural farm workers in the Gaza Strip were asked to fill in a questionnaire on knowledge, attitudes, practice towards pesticide use, and associated toxicity symptoms.<h4>Results</h4>Farm workers reported high levels of knowledge on the health impact of pesticides (97.9%). Moderate to high levels of ...[more]

PMID: 12040114

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Project description:BackgroundIn low-income settings, cancer is often diagnosed in advanced stages due to late presentation. Good public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms has a positive impact on the time patients take before they present to healthcare professionals. Therefore, this study examined public knowledge of cancer signs and symptoms as well as risk factors in Gaza.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited from adult visitors (?18?years) to governmental hospitals covering all five governorates of Gaza, and adolescent students (15 to 17?years) from 10 high schools in corresponding locations. An Arabic version of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was completed in a face-to-face interview. It described demographic data and knowledge of: cancer prevalence, age-related risk, signs and symptoms as well as risk factors both in recall and recognition questions.ResultsOf 3033 participants invited, 2886 completed the CAM (response rate?=?95.2%). Adult mean age?±?standard deviation was 33.7?±?11.7?years and that of adolescents was 16.3?±?0.8?years. Half of the participants (n?=?1457, 50.5%) were adolescent (781 females; 53.6%) and 1429 (49.5%) were adult (702 females; 49.1%). About two thirds (n?=?1885) thought about cancer as unrelated to age. Only 196 participants (6.8%) identified colorectal cancer as the most common cancer among men. Awareness of cancer signs/symptoms was poor to fair, where ‘lump’ was most commonly recognized (n?=?2227, 77.2%) and ‘change of bowel habit’ the least (n?=?670, 23.2%). Only 217 participants (7.5%) had a good level of recognizing risk factors with ‘smoking’ being the most identified and ‘eating less than five portions of fruits and vegetables a day’ the least. There was a higher likelihood for adults to identify most cancer signs/symptoms and risk factors than adolescents, except for recalling ‘unexplained pain’, ‘persistent cough/hoarseness’, ‘non-healing ulcer’, ‘smoking’, and ‘eating less than five portions of fruits and vegetables a day’.ConclusionPublic awareness of cancer signs/symptoms and risk factors needs to improve to facilitate early presentation and diagnosis in Gaza. Combining the delivery of public campaigns with tailored education to population groups, including the youth, may increase their knowledge and maintain its impact.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Given the inherent characteristics of the Hajj pilgrimage, the event is a risk for tuberculosis (TB) infection. Early diagnosis and appropriate management of TB cases by knowledgeable and skilled healthcare workers (HCWs) are key in improving patients' outcome and preventing transmission during the Hajj mass gathering and globally. METHOD:We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of HCWs deployed during the 2016 Hajj regarding TB and its management using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS:Data was collected from 540 HCWs from 13 hospitals. HCWs originated from 17 countries and included physicians, nurses and other non-administrative HCWs. Nearly half of HCWs declared having experience dealing with TB patients. In general, HCWs had average knowledge (mean knowledge score of 52%), above average attitude (mean attitude score of 73%) and good practice (mean practice score of 85%) regarding TB, based on our scoring system and cut-off points. Knowledge gaps were identified in relation to the definition of MDR-/XDR-TB and LTBI, smear microscopy results, length of standard TB treatment for drug-sensitive TB, 2nd line anti-TB drugs, BCG vaccination, and appropriate PPE to be used with active PTB patients. Poor attitudes were found in relation to willingness to work in TB clinic/ward and to the management and treatment of TB patients. Poor practices were reported for commencing anti-TB treatment on suspected TB cases before laboratory confirmation and not increasing natural ventilation in TB patients' rooms. Age, gender, nationality, occupation, length of work experience and experience dealing with TB patients were associated with knowledge scores. Age and occupation were associated with attitude scores while length of work experience and occupation were associated with practice scores. There was a weak but statistically significant positive correlation between score for knowledge and attitude (rs = 0.11, p = 0.009) and attitude and practice (rs = 0.13, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS:While the results of the study are encouraging, important knowledge gaps and some poor attitudes and practices regarding TB were identified among HCWs during Hajj. This calls for multifaceted interventions to improve HCWs KAP regarding TB including tailored, periodic TB education and training aimed at boosting knowledge and improving behaviour.

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Project description:Background Health care workers (HCWs) involved in day-to-day care and other healthcare activities play a significant role in biomedical waste (BMW) management. The World Health Organization stated some of the causes for the failure of BMW management, namely, lack of awareness of the health hazards related to BMW and inadequate trained HCWs in BMW management. The present study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards BMW management among the HCWs in northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology The present study assessed KAP through a self-administered and validated questionnaire. Using a multistage probability sampling method, 384 HCWs from different healthcare facilities participated in this survey. We performed binomial logistic regression analysis to find association between KAP subscales and sociodemographic characteristics. Spearman’s correlation test was performed to find the strength and direction of correlation (rho) between KAP scores. Results Of the population studied, high knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were found in 47.1%, 65.1%, and 49.5% of the HCWs, respectively. The present study found that knowledge score was significantly higher among the age group from 30 to 39 years (ref: age less than 30 years: AOR = 2.25, 95% CI [1.05–4.85], p = 0.04) and non- Saudi nationals (ref: Saudi: AOR = 2.84, 95% CI [1.63–4.94], p < 0.001) The attitude score towards BMW management was significantly lower among the HCWs working in tertiary care settings (ref: PHC: AOR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.12–0.69], p = 0.01). Regarding the practice score, the male categories had a significantly higher score (ref: female: AOR = 1.82, 95% CI [1.19 –2.99], p = 0.02), while pharmacist (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.39, 95% CI [0.18–0.58], p = 0.02) and lab technicians (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.11–0.53], p = 0.02) had a significant lower practice score. The test results revealed a weak positive correlation of knowledge with the attitude scores (rho = 0.249, p = 0.001), and a moderately strong positive correlation was found between attitude and practice scores (rho = 0.432, p = 0.001). Conclusion This study suggests that a regular training program for the HCWs on BMW management is necessary through symposiums, role play, interactive lectures, and other feasible training methods. Furthermore, a multicentric prospective exploratory study is to be conducted in other regions of the KSA to understand the region-specific training needs of HCWs.

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Knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use among farm workers in the Gaza Strip.

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Knowledge, attitude, practice, and toxicity symptoms associated with pesticide use among farm workers in the Gaza Strip.

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