Factors Influencing the Farmers Syndrome

농부증 영향요인

Purpose: This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence and the main factors influencing the farmer's Syndrome in farmers in Korea. Method: A survey questionnaire was completed by 238 farmers who lived in 8 agricultural districts in Seosan City. The data were collected from April 10 to May 5, 2002. Results: The prevalence of the farmer's Syndrome was 42.6%, and its prevalence rate in woman was higher than that in man. The prevalence of the farmers syndrome proportionally increased with advanced age. Variables that were positively correlated with the farmer's syndrome were age, duration of farming, days of resting, and the number of the agricultural chemical's poisoning. On the other hand, variables that were negatively correlated with the farmers syndrome were smoking, sleeping hours, economic condition, and level of educational. In a regression analysis, the factors influencing the farmers syndrome were age, sex, sleeping hours, days of resting, and the number of the agricultural chemical's poisoning, which accounted for 25% of the total variance. Conclusion: Based on these study results, older age and woman gender are the remarkable risk factors influencing the farmer's syndrome. Sleeping hours, days of resting, and the number of the agricultural chemical's poisoning were also the significant attributable variables to the farmers syndrome.