東北積雪地帯農民の労働と保健に関する研究 : 第3報 農繁期の疲労について

Abstract

A long-term investigation was made on the physical load and fatigue of the farmers lasting three months in the spring and autumn of 1962. The farmers tested were divided into two groups, namely, one consisting of six families which cultivate mainly apples and the other of nine families which cultivate mainly rice (Tab.1). The flicker fusion frequency and the threshold of patellar reflex were examined on the farm once a week. The Donaggio reaction and the amount of creatinine and of uropepsin in the second urine in the morning were examined once a week as well. The results were as follows: (1) Daily calory consumption is less in the apple farmers than in the rice farmers, though daily working hours are longer in the former than in the latter, averaging ten hours and a half in the busiest week in June in the former (Tabs. 2, 3 and Fig.1). (2) The acute fatigue in the rice farmers at the rice-planting season is greater than in the apple farmers (from unpublished data), but the chronic fatigue throughout the spring is greater in the apple farmers than in the rice farmers (Figs. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8). That may be due to the fact that the apple cultivation requires longer daily hours and longer term of working, continuing to the begining of summer. (3) The fatigue in the spring is greater than in the autumn, and the fatigue in females is greater than that in males. (4) The flicker value in the apple farmers declines sharply as the daily working hours exceed nine hours (Fig.6). This fact shows that the optimum working hours in the apple farming is almost the same as that in many industrial works. (5) According to the results of tests on the urine and the blood (Figs.9, 10, 11 and Tab.4), it is concluded that physically stressed conditions continue more constantly in the apple farmers than in the rice farmers. These facts may be due to the difference of the nature of work in the both farmings. In the apple cultivation the sustained work is comparatively light and constant. (6) After all, the physiological loads in the apple farmers are heavier than in the rice farmers throughout the busy seasons.