Survey of knowledge and attitude of farmers of Southern Khorasan province regarding agriculture related OHS issues in 2008

Background and Aims Agriculture is one of the oldest and high risk professions. Traditional agricultural production mainly depends on the physical power of farmers; thus, optimum efficiency in agriculture depends on the attention paid to the importance of certain measures to prevent diseases and accidents due to farming. This research was performed with the aim of survey of knowledge and attitude of farmers of Southern Khorasan province regarding agriculture related OHS issues in 2008. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 818 farmers were selected and a questionnaire that its validity and reliability had been approved was filled out through interviewing each subject. Data were analyzed using the SPSS program and appropriate statistical tests. P ≤ 0.05 was taken as the significant level. Results 98% of the subjects were males and 2% females. Mean age of the subjects was 50.7±14.7 years with the mean working experience of 29±15.8 years. Knowledge score of farmers ranged from 10 to118 (out of 128) and their mean score was 89.55±15.58. Attitude score of farmers ranged from 81 to 141 (out of 145) and their mean score was 120.38±12.2. The correlation of mean knowledge score of farmers with education, age, and residence was statistically significant (P≤0.05) but, there was no significant correlation considering sex and mean farming experience ( P>0.05). ConclusionConsidering the obtained results, improving health knowledge of farmers through appropriate training programs is necessary