Pesticide use and fatal injury among farmers in the Agricultural Health Study.

Purpose: To assess whether pesticide use practices were associated with injury mortality among 51,035 male farmers from NC and IA enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study.

Methods: We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age and state to estimate fatal injury risk associated with self-reported use of 49 specific pesticides, personal protective equipment, specific types of farm machinery, and other farm factors collected 1-15 years preceding death. Cause-specific mortality was obtained through linkage to mortality registries.

Mortality in the agricultural health study, 1993-2007.

Comparing agricultural cohorts with the general population is challenging because the general healthiness of farmers may mask potential adverse health effects of farming. Using data from the Agricultural Health Study, a cohort of 89,656 pesticide applicators and their spouses (N = 89, 656) in North Carolina and Iowa, the authors computed standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) comparing deaths from time of the enrollment (1993-1997) through 2007 to state-specific rates. To compensate for the cohort's overall healthiness, relative SMRs were estimated by calculating the SMR for each cause relative to the SMR for all other causes.

Pesticide use and chronic bronchitis among farmers in the Agricultural Health Study.

Background: Farmers have increased risk for chronic bronchitis. Few investigators have considered pesticides.

Methods: We evaluated pesticides as risk factors for chronic bronchitis using the Agricultural Health Study enrollment data on lifetime pesticide use and history of doctor-diagnosed chronic bronchitis from 20,908 private pesticide applicators, primarily farmers.

Pesticides and atopic and nonatopic asthma among farm women in the Agricultural Health Study.

Rationale: Risk factors for asthma among farm women are understudied.

Objectives: We evaluated pesticide and other occupational exposures as risk factors for adult-onset asthma.

Methods: Studying 25,814 farm women in the Agricultural Health Study, we used self-reported history of doctor-diagnosed asthma with or without eczema and/or hay fever to create two case groups: patients with atopic asthma and those with nonatopic asthma.

Chronic bronchitis among nonsmoking farm women in the agricultural health study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine agricultural risk factors for chronic bronchitis among nonsmoking farm women.

Methods: We used self-reported enrollment data from the 21,541 nonsmoking women in the Agricultural Health Study to evaluate occupational risk factors for prevalent chronic bronchitis among farm women. Odds ratios (ORs) for chronic bronchitis for occupational exposures were adjusted for age, state, and related agricultural exposures.

Pesticides and other agricultural factors associated with self-reported farmer's lung among farm residents in the Agricultural Health Study.

Background: Farmer's lung, or hypersensitivity pneumonitis, is an important contributor to respiratory morbidity among farmers.

Methods: Using the 1993-7 enrolment data from the Agricultural Health Study, we conducted a cross-sectional study of occupational risk factors for farmer's lung among 50,000 farmers and farm spouses in Iowa and North Carolina using hierarchical logistic regression controlling for age, state, and smoking status. Participants provided information on agricultural exposures, demographic characteristics, and medical history via self-administered questionnaires.