title: Prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension, electrocardiogram abnormalities, and noise-induced hearing loss in agricultural workers.
abstract: ABSTRACT The literature suggests that farmers nowadays are more likely to contract cardiovascular diseases than in the past. This study involved 79 farmers and 64 controls. The workers completed a questionnaire to identify exclusion factors for audiological and cardiovascular risk factors. The participants underwent medical examination, measurement of blood pressure, electrocardiogram, blood tests, audiometry, and measurement of noise exposure. The farmers were found to have a higher prevalence of systolic and diastolic arterial hypertension as well as electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities compared with the controls. A significant prevalence of arterial hypertension was detected in the farmers exposed to noise, when compared with those who were not exposed. These results suggest that farmers are at risk of cardiovascular effects and that noise is a cardiovascular risk factor for farmers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatric and Psychological Science, University of Rome Sapienza, Rome, Italy. franc.tomei@alice.it
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tomei
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sancini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tomei
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vitarelli
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andreozzi
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Giorgio
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Samperi
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiaschetti
authors.forename: Zaira
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tasciotti
authors.forename: Carlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cetica
authors.forename: Assunta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capozzella
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciarrocca
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Caciari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture; D001299:Audiometry; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires