Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices for Respiratory and Hearing Health Among Midwestern Farmers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Achutan, Chandran ; Cramer ME ; Duysen E ; Sayles H ; Wendl MJ
• Description:
  Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices for hearing and respiratory health/safety among farmers in seven Midwestern states served by a federally funded Agricultural Center. Findings provided a baseline to longitudinally track the Agricultural Center's program outcomes and to design community education to improve safety and health among farmers. Design and Sample: This was a cross-sectional study using a 30 item mailed survey to describe farmers' operations, demographics, health conditions, related information sources, and knowledge/attitude/practices for personal protective equipment (PPE) (i.e., ear plugs/muffs and dust masks/respirators). Measures: Frequencies and percentages were calculated for each item and according to responses from younger versus older farmers. The unit of study was farm operators (N = 280) randomly selected from a publicly available database of corn/soybean and hog farmers in seven Midwestern states. Results: Findings revealed important knowledge gaps among respondents regarding (1) hazardous exposure sources; (2) long-term health consequences of noise/dust exposure; (3) proper selection/fitting of PPE. Conclusions: Public health nurses and primary care providers in rural communities should address specific knowledge gaps in order to enhance farmers' perceived understanding of their susceptibility to hazardous exposures. Increasing farmers' knowledge through preferred venues may help to improve PPE effectiveness. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Behavior Hearing Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory System Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Industry Attitude Author Keywords: Agriculture Cross Sectional Studies Health Surveys Hearing Conservation Hearing Loss Occupational Exposure Personal Protective Equipment PPE Program Evaluation Respiratory Health Safety Practices

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• ISSN:
  0737-1209
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Nebraska ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  348-358
• Volume:
  34
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051196
• Citation:
  Public Health Nurs 2017 Jul-Aug; 34(4):348-358
• Contact Point Address:
  Mary E. Cramer, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), College of Nursing, 4101 Dewey Avenue, Omaha, NE 68198-5330
• Email:
  mecramer@unmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Nebraska Medical Center - Omaha
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110901
• Source Full Name:
  Public Health Nursing
• End Date:
  20270831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9fd49b6c929729630cc63c10037dfd7b6139e2d4a55e27474b6f39a2ebbadaba8a18d5362d889494f976e69c34fa1e61125f01d4621ed8e36ec1fbbdf5690e2e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211279/cdc_211279_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 265.65 KB ]