Subject(s)
Glucose Metabolism Disorders/metabolism , Glucose Metabolism Disorders/physiopathology , Glycation End Products, Advanced/metabolism , Lung/physiology , Skin/metabolism , Aged , Asymptomatic Diseases , Case-Control Studies , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/metabolism , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/physiopathology , Early Diagnosis , Female , Glucose Metabolism Disorders/complications , Glycation End Products, Advanced/analysis , Humans , Kidney Diseases/diagnosis , Kidney Diseases/metabolism , Male , Middle Aged , Optical Imaging , Prediabetic State/metabolism , Prediabetic State/physiopathology , Respiratory Function Tests , Skin/diagnostic imaging , Spain , Vascular Diseases/diagnosis , Vascular Diseases/metabolismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To find whether agricultural workers seen in the general medical clinic attend due to symptoms connected with the use of pesticides. DESIGN: A crossover descriptive study comparing agricultural workers with a control group. SETTING: Primary care. PARTICIPANTS: The clinical histories of 40 agricultural workers and a control group (sample of 58 paired for age and gender) who had been seen over the previous year. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Age, gender, frequency of attendance, motives for consultation, risk factors and the number of consultations for symptoms possibly due to exposure to pesticides--in line with a previously composed list. There were no differences in frequency of attendance, overall reasons for consultation or risk factors. It was seen that agricultural workers consulted 4 times more than the control group for suspected pesticide poisoning (p = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: In our health area agricultural workers present symptoms which should probably be attributed to insufficient protection against pesticides. The primary care doctor working in rural zones where these products are heavily used must be able to identify these symptoms and take appropriate measures.
