title: Incidence of acute occupational pesticide poisoning among male farmers in South Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pesticide poisoning from agricultural labor has been recognized as a major public health problem among farmers worldwide. The objective of this study was to examine the incidence of acute occupational pesticide poisoning among male farmers in South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationwide sampling survey of male farmers was conducted in South Korea. This survey used a stratified multistage probability sampling design and adopted the face-to-face interview method. A total of 1,958 male farmers were interviewed in order to estimate the incidence of acute occupational pesticide poisoning in rural areas in 2010. Based on a self-reported definition, the incidence rate in 2010 and the lifetime hospitalization rate due to acute occupational pesticide poisoning among male farmers were estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence rate of acute occupational pesticide poisoning was 24.7 (95% CI 22.1-27.2) per 100 male farmers, which corresponds to 209,512 cases across South Korea in 2010. About 12% of the pesticide poisoning cases included either visiting a medical doctor or hospitalization. The lifetime rate of hospitalization due to occupational pesticide poisoning was 6.1 (95% CI 4.9-7.3) among male farmers. Poisoning occurred mainly when farmers were applying pesticides during summer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our nationwide sampling survey demonstrated that acute occupational pesticide poisonings are highly prevalent among male South Korean farmers. Intensive intervention efforts to reduce occupational pesticide poisoning are urgently needed in South Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea. leewj@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Won Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eun Shil
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Jinwoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yousun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Hyun Joong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jaeyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006306:Health Surveys; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000506:poisoning*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D057566:Self Report
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides