Elsevier

Annals of Epidemiology

Volume 12, Issue 6, August 2002, Pages 389-394
Annals of Epidemiology

Original report
Pesticide Poisoning and Depressive Symptoms among Farm Residents

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1047-2797(01)00298-8Get rights and content

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study presented is to evaluate the association between pesticides and depressive symptoms among a population exposed to chemicals as a result of agricultural use. Chronic sequelae of acute pesticide poisoning from organophosphate compounds may include anxiety and depression. In some states, farmers have been reported to have higher rates of depression than other population groups. Little work has been done to describe the effects of exposure to organophosphate compounds and depressive symptoms among the farming population.

METHODS: Data for this study came from a cross sectional survey of farmers and their spouses conducted in an eight county area in northeastern Colorado. Personal interviews were conducted with the study participants. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Pesticides applied on the farms were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. Conditional logistic regression was used to model the relationship between depression and pesticide-related illness in a stratified analysis.

RESULTS: Between 1992-1997, 761 individuals were enrolled in this cross sectional survey. Adjusting for a number of potential confounders, the odds ratio for depression associated with pesticide-related illness was 5.87 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.56-13.44].

CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to pesticides at a high enough concentration to cause self reported poisoning symptoms was associated with high depressive symptoms independently of other known risk factors for depression among farm residents.

Section snippets

Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms

CES-D scale = Center for Epidemiologic Depression Scale ORs = odds ratios CI = confidence intervals TRUs = township/range units

Methods

The study population was selected using a multi-stage area sample of farms in an eight county area of northeastern Colorado. The eight-county area included 47% of the total agriculturally employed population in Colorado. Colorado has been mapped using township/range units (TRUs) which consist of 36 sections of land area, each covering 23,040 acres or 36 square miles of land. The number of TRUs sampled from each of the eight counties was selected based on the average acreage of the farms in the

Results

Table 1 describes selected characteristics of the study population. The prevalence of depression by the CES-D scale was 6.0% in this population, 9.5% among females and 3.8% among males. The mean and standard deviation of the CES-D scores were 5.2 ± 6.0 with a range of 0 to 41. The mean age of the study population was 50.7 ranging from 24 to 85 with a standard deviation of 13.6. Sixty-nine individuals (9.2%) reported illness due to pesticide poisoning. Of these 69 individuals, 24 (34.8%) sought

Discussion

Lifetime general population prevalence rates reported among males have been reported to be 12.7% with twelve month rates reported to be 7.7% (17), more than twice the rate found in this farming population. Among females in the general population, lifetime rates were reported to be 21.3% with twelve month rates of 12.9% (18), again higher than those reported among the female farm residents. Differences observed between the farming population and the general population may be related to the

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, U04/CCU806060 and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, R49/CCR811509.

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