Self-rated health status and associated factors in rural workers.

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health status can be considered a good predictor of morbidity and mortality and has been used due to its easy assessment and applicability. The instrument is efficient for understanding sociodemographic, environmental and clinical conditions that may be related to the self-rated health status. Thus, this study aims to analyze the self-assessment of health status in rural workers and its association with socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, clinical condition and work characteristics. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study carried out with 787 male and female rural reporting agriculture as their main source of income in the municipality of Santa Maria de Jetibá. A simple and direct question was used "In general, compared to people your age, how do you rate your own state of health?" to see how rural workers rate their current health status. The independent variables analyzed were socioeconomic, clinical, health and work conditions. The magnitude of the associations was evaluated by means of hierarchical logistic regression. RESULTS: It was found that 42.1% of rural workers self-rated their health status as regular or poor. Belonging to socioeconomic classes C (OR = 1.937; 95% CI = 1.009-3.720) or D/E (OR = 2.280; 95% CI = 1.178-4.415), being overweight (or having excess weight) (OR = 1.477; 95% CI = 1.086-2.008), multimorbidity (OR = 1.715; 95% CI = 1.201-2.447) and complex multimorbidity (OR = 1.738; 95% CI = 1.097-2.751) were risk factors for worse self-rated health. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that chronic diseases, socioeconomic status and overweight are risk factors for negative self-rated health. The identification of these determinants through self-rated status can support the planning of actions aimed at improving the health of the rural population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Health Sciences Center of the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Protocol No. 2091172; CAAE No. 52839116.3.0000.5060). All research participants gave their informed consent.

Insulin resistance by the triglyceride-glucose index in a rural Brazilian population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of insulin resistance (IR) in a rural population in Brazil, to verify its association with sociodemographic, labor, lifestyle, and health factors. Subjects and methods: This is a cross-sectional study with 790 farmers in the state of Espírito Santo/Brazil. Triglyceride-glucose (TyG) was calculated and a cut-off point of Ln 4.52 was used. A hierarchical logistic regression for the association of insulin resistance with sociodemographic, labor, lifestyle and health variables of farmers living in Espírito Santo was performed. Results: The prevalence of insulin resistance was 33.7% (n = 266), and the association with insulin resistance was found in the age group 31 to 40 years of age (OR = 1.85; 95% CI 1.19-2.87); in smokers or former smokers (OR = 1.63; 95% CI 1.08-2.48) and overweight (OR = 3.06; 95% CI 2.22-4.23). Conclusion: The prevalence of insulin resistance was high in a rural population of Brazil, and was mainly associated with age, smoking and obesity. The use of TyG as an instrument for assessing the health of individuals living in areas where access to health services is difficult, such as rural areas, can represent an important advance in terms of health promotion, protection and recovery. In addition, by identifying the risk factors associated with IR, as well as their consequences, a more adequate scheme for the prevention and treatment of these comorbidities can be defined.

Cutoff point of TyG index for metabolic syndrome in Brazilian farmers.

OBJECTIVE: Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the cutoff point of the TyG index for the diagnosis of insulin resistance (IR), according to two different diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome in a rural Brazilian population. METHODS: The study population consisted of 790 family farmers from 18 to 59 years old. The triglyceride-glucose index (TyG index) was calculated, and the Metabolic Syndrome was defined using the NCEP-ATPIII and IDF criteria. Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the association of quantitative and qualitative variables. When the qualitative variable had three or more categories, the comparison between the means was performed by the Kruskal-Wallis test (using the Mann-Whitney U Test two by two to identify the differences). For correlations, Spearman's correlation test was used. The cutoff values of TyG index for MetS were obtained using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis with the area under the curve (AUC) and the Youden Index. RESULTS: The median TyG values increased according to the aggregation of the components of MetS. The AUCs and Youden's cutoff point for TyG index according to the NCEP and IDF diagnostic criteria were 0.873, Ln 4.52 (sensitivity: 84.30%; specificity: 75.75%), and 0.867, Ln 4.55 (sensitivity: 80.0%; specificity: 79.82%), respectively. CONCLUSION: A cutoff point of Ln 4.52 was defined, and it can be used both in clinical practice and epidemiological studies. It represents an important tool for promotion, protection and recovery health of rural populations.

Dietary patterns of Brazilian farmers and their relation with sociodemographic, labor, and lifestyle conditions.

BACKGROUND: The eating habits have changed in the last few decades, but few studies prioritize the food consumption of farmers and the rural population. Therefore, the objective of this study was explore the sociodemographic, occupational and lifestyle factors to the high adherence these dietary patterns. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study of 740 farmers (51.5%, n = 381 males; 48.5%, n = 359 females) from a municipality in Southeastern Brazil. Food intake data were obtained by applying multipass 24-h recall and dietary intake was presented in dietary patterns determined by Principal Component Analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation. RESULTS: Three dietary patterns were identified. The first pattern, "local traditional", was associated with sociodemographic and labor variables, being considered typical of the region's farmer as white race/color (p = 0.003), not extra-physical activity (p = 0.014) and cultivating 5 or more crops (p = 0.005). The permanence of a "traditional Brazilian" pattern and the occurrence of an "industrialized" pattern were also observed. Farmers working in non-conventional agriculture were 54% less adhere to "traditional Brazilian" pattern (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.25-0.86, p = 0.014). Individuals aged 50 and over years were 82% less likely (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.10-0.30) to adhere to "industrialized" pattern. Still, individuals of lower socioeconomic class were 52% less likely to adhere to this pattern (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24-0.96). Farmers who spent R$ 200 or more per capita to buy food were more than twice as likely to adhere to this food pattern (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.32-3.73), and who had the habit of frequently eating out were 1.62 as likely adhere to "industrialized" pattern (95% CI 1.11-2.36). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate changes in dietary patterns in rural areas of the country, maintaining a traditional Brazilian pattern, as well as a local and an industrialized pattern. This last pattern demonstrates that the contemporary rural population also opts for a diet with ultra-processed products, being associated with the characteristic habits of a more urbanized rural region.

Inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers induced by silica exposure in crystal craftsmen.

BACKGROUND: Identification of biomarkers associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of silicosis would be highly advantageous in the clinical setting. The aim of this study is to evaluate inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in subjects exposed to silica. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of crystal craftsmen currently (n = 34) or formerly (n = 35) exposed and a group of nonexposed subjects (n = 12) was performed. Personal respirable dust samples were collected. Plasma inflammatory mediators (bone morphogenetic protein- BMP2 and chemokines CXCL16, and CCL5), oxidative stress enzymes (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARs] and superoxide dismutase [SOD]), and nitrite (NO2- ) were analyzed in parallel with nitric oxide in exhaled breath (FeNO). RESULTS: Being currently or formerly exposed to silica was related to increased levels of CXCL16 and TBARs. Currently, exposed subjects showed decreased levels of SOD. Thirty-seven craftsmen with silicosis (26 formerly and 11 currently exposed) showed higher levels of CXCL16, which was positively associated with the radiological severity of silicosis. Compared with the nonexposed, subjects with silicosis had higher levels of TBARs and those with complicated silicosis had lower levels of SOD. In multivariate analysis, higher levels of CXCL16 were associated with exposure status and radiological severity of silicosis. Smoking was not a confounder. FeNO did not distinguish between the exposure status and the presence of silicosis. CONCLUSION: CXCL16 emerged as a potential biomarker that could distinguish both silica exposure and silicosis. TBARs were elevated in exposed individuals. However, their clinical applications demand further investigation in follow-up studies of representative samples.