FREQUENCY OF HYPERTENSION AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN PESTICIDE EXPOSURE OF FUMIGATION WORKERS

Objective: This study plans to determine the prevalence of hypertension in fumigation workers using pesticides and to investigate other factors that may affect hypertension. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in a fumigation center associated with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality between January and June 2014. All the participants included in the study were volunteers. Physical examinations and blood pressure measurements were performed on all of the participants in the study. We ascertained their ages, education levels, smoking habits and any histories of hypertension in a face-to-face interview. The T test was used to determine any relationships between age, working years, Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference and hypertension where the variables were normally distributed. The Mann-Whitney U test was used when the variables were not normally distributed. Results: 370 male workers were included in the study. Mean values were: 37.8 +/- 8.1 (min 20.0, max 64.0) for age, 4.4 +/- 2.4 (min 0.1, max 14.0) for number of years worked and 30.9 +/- 4.3 (min 20.3, max 45.2) for BMI. Hypertension was detected in 134 (36.2%):(95% GA: 31.5%-41.2%) of the volunteers in the study. Twelve (9%) of the employees with hypertension were diagnosed with hypertension by a physician before. 122 participants (32.9%):(95% GA: 28.4% -37.9%) were not aware that hypertension was present. We found that the age, BMI and waist circumferences of the hypertensive workers were significantly higher than the non-hypertensive group (for all variables p<0.001). We didn't find significant difference in the number of years worked between the two groups (p=0.347). Conclusion: Based on the participants in our study, we found a higher prevalence of hypertension and obesity in the subject community. There are limited studies that investigate the effects of occupational pesticide exposure on hypertension and obesity. There is a need for studies that investigate the frequency of hypertension and the affecting factors in different business lines.