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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1474487

Knowledge of health risks, safety practices, acute pesticide poisoning, and associated factors among farmers in rural irrigation areas of northeastern Ethiopia

Provisionally accepted
Awoke Keleb Awoke Keleb 1*Ayechew Ademas Ayechew Ademas 2Masresha Abebe Masresha Abebe 2Gete Berihun Gete Berihun 2Belay Desye Belay Desye 2Anmut Endalkachew Bezie Anmut Endalkachew Bezie 3
  • 1 Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia
  • 2 Department of Envieronmental Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia
  • 3 Department of Occupational Health and Safety, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University., Dessie, Amhara, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Pesticide exposure is a major public health issue among farmers affecting farmers' health, economic stability, and agricultural productivity. This study aimed to investigated the magnitude and determinants of farmers' knowledge of health risks, safety practices, and acute pesticide poisoning in the South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia.A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the South Wollo Zone's irrigation areas from July to August 2022. Using a multistage sampling technique, five out of ten irrigation districts were randomly selected, and three kebeles (the smallest administrative unit) from each district (15 total) were chosen based on intensive irrigation activities. A proportional sample size was allocated across the selected kebeles according to the number of farmers. Trained data collectors conducted face-to-face interviews using a pretested structured questionnaire. Data were entered into Epi-Data Manager 4.6 and analysed with SPSS version 25.0 . Crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals at a p-value of 0.05 identified statistically significant factors.The study found that 55.2% of farmers had poorbelow mean knowledge of health risks, 63.7% practiced poorbelow mean safety practices, and 47.9% experienced acute pesticide poisoning. Significant factors for poorbelow mean knowledge included no formal education (AOR

    Keywords: Associated Determinant factors, knowledge, Safety practices, Pesticides, Acute Pesticide Poisoning Acute pesticide poisoning, Ethiopia, Farmers, health risks

    Received: 01 Aug 2024; Accepted: 08 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Keleb, Ademas, Abebe, Berihun, Desye and Bezie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Awoke Keleb, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.