Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in agricultural workers in a rural area of Tuscany and to relate them to some occupational risk factors.
Subjects and methods: A cross sectional study was performed on a sample of 461 agricultural workers from two rural area of Tuscany. All subjects underwent to respiratory questionnaire, pulmonary function test and skin prick tests. Occupational risk factors were evaluated as response to questions related to 11 specific jobs, most of them related to cow-shed works.
Results: Subjects had high mean age and a long work duration. Smoking habit was significantly associated with symptoms of chronic bronchitis, while atopy was significantly associated with chronic cough, phlegm and dyspnea. In comparison with a control group of workers which did not report any occupational risk factors (reference group), logistic analysis showed that most symptoms were significantly associated with some specific jobs related to animal breeding, taking into account differences due to age, smoking habit, atopy and district. Mean pulmonary function tests were in the normal range, without any significant relationship with different risk factors, except smoking habit. Increased work duration was associated with significant decrease of pulmonary function.
Conclusion: Symptoms of chronic bronchitis were frequent in this population of farmers of Middle Italy. The analysis of risk factors confirms a relevant role for some specific occupational risk factors, related to jobs in the cow-shed, in the development of respiratory disorders.