Abstract
Background: Agriculturists exposed to health hazards are affected by increased occupational disease. This retrospective study aimed to investigate situations of work-related diseases and injuries among agriculturists in upper northeast Thailand. Methods: The secondary data of international classification of diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) case reports of occupational disease among farmers for 2014-2016, from the database of the Health Data Center (HDC), were used. We collected the number of registered farmers from the agricultural office and secondary data of ICD-10 from the hospital information system (HIS) of healthcare services in Udon Thani and Roi-Et provinces. The annual morbidity rate of occupational diseases was analyzed and presented at a rate per 100,000 farmers of the studied area. Results: Among farmers who visited healthcare service providers, lung disease, which was not reported as occupational disease of the HDC database, was the highest ranking of all diseases, followed by work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), noise- and heat-related diseases, and pesticide toxicity, respectively, while the injury rate was as high as that of WMSDs. The morbidity rate of Udon Thani was higher than that of Roi-Et province, whose rate was closer to the national rate. The number of farmers from the HDC database was not reflective of numbers of registered farmers, even though the case reports of the HDC was lower than that of the HIS with occupational ICD-10 codes, which might explain the underestimation of the morbidity rate of occupational disease. Conclusions: The morbidity rate of lung disease, noise- and heat-related diseases, and pesticide toxicity increased every year (2014-2016) and reflects the health problems among agriculturists in Thailand. The underestimation in the reported disease rate is explained from big data analysis by the rare recording of work-related cases among those agriculturists. Therefore, Thai agriculturists should be supported in registration with occupational diseases surveillance as holistic healthcare.
Highlights
From the survey results in 2019, it was found that the total number of employed persons in Thailand was 37.5 million persons
Morbidity rate of work-related disease and injuries of registered farmers visited health care providers in 2016 According to the secondary dataset of the health standard data structure (43 health files) and the number of agriculturists registered to the provincial agricultural office during 2014-2016, without duplicated registration of farmers or disease accounts, the analysis showed the number of registered farmers in 2014 to 2016 of Udon Thani Province was 154,478, while that of Roi-Et was 207,465 farmers.[46]
When comparing the morbidity rates of farmers from the 43 health files data to those of the Health Data Center (HDC) database, the closest rates were found in the pesticide toxicity rates of Roi-Et and Udon Thani, which contrasted with those of noise- and heat-related diseases
Summary
From the survey results in 2019, it was found that the total number of employed persons in Thailand was 37.5 million persons. Agriculturists exposed to health hazards are affected by increased occupational disease This retrospective study aimed to investigate situations of work-related diseases and injuries among agriculturists in upper northeast Thailand. Results: Among farmers who visited healthcare service providers, lung disease, which was not reported as occupational disease of the HDC database, was the highest ranking of all diseases, followed by work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), noise- and heatrelated diseases, and pesticide toxicity, respectively, while the injury rate was as high as that of WMSDs. The morbidity rate of Udon Thani was higher than that of Roi-Et province, whose rate was closer to the national rate. Conclusions: The morbidity rate of lung disease, noise- and heatrelated diseases, and pesticide toxicity increased every year (20142016) and reflects the health problems among agriculturists in Thailand.
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