title: The impact of stress on the health of sugar cane cutters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evaluate the impact of stress on sugar cane cutters and the prevalence of physical and psychological symptoms before and after harvest.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 114 sugarcane cutters and 109 urban workers in the pre-harvest and 102 sugar cane cutters and 81 urban workers in the post-harvest period in the city of Mendonça, SP, Southeastern Brazil, in 2009. Data analysis was based on the frequency and percentage of the assessed symptoms of stress, using the Lipp-ISSL test (Symptoms of Stress for Adults). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The Fisher Test was used to compare the variable of stress between pre- and post-harvest within the sugar cane cutter and urban worker groups. P values below 0.05 were considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Stress in sugar cane cutters increased after harvesting (34.2% pre-harvest and 46.1% post-harvest); in urban workers, stress decreased from 44.0% pre-harvest to 42.0% post-harvest. There was prevalence of the phase of resistance to stress for both groups with signs more apparent from the near-exhaustion and exhaustion phases for sugar cane cutters. After harvest, there was a tendency for the number of sugar cane cutters with symptoms of near-exhaustion (6.4%) and exhaustion (10.6%) to increase. After harvest there was a trend for the number of sugar cane cutters with physical symptoms (pre-harvest = 20.5%, post-harvest = 25.5%) and psychological symptoms (pre-harvest = 64.1%; post-harvest = 70.2%) to increase. For both groups, predominantly psychological symptoms occurred in both phases (70.2% versus 64.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The work process of cutting cane can cause stress. Individual factors such as cognitive perception of the experience, self-efficacy beliefs and expectations of the employee regarding their performance can influence the understanding of the reactions in their body in face of the work.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiologia e Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Roseana Mara Aredes
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Priuli
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem, União das Instituições Educacionais de São Paulo, Mirassol, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Silvia de
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdon.
authors.forename: Rafael Morais
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Chiaravalloti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D012424:Rural Population; D031786:Saccharum; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult