Occupational exposure: rural Australian farmers' sun-protective behaviours

Title
Occupational exposure: rural Australian farmers' sun-protective behaviours
Publication Date
2019-06-04
Author(s)
Woods, Cindy
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5790-069X
Email: cwood30@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:cwood30
O'Shea, Eilish
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4899-1627
Email: eoshea5@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:eoshea5
Barrett, Fiona
Bookallil, Luke
East, Leah
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4757-2706
Email: least@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:least
Usher, Kim
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9686-5003
Email: kusher@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:kusher
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Springer
Place of publication
Germany
DOI
10.1007/s10389-019-01089-x
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/27918
Abstract
Aim Australia has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world. Farmers are a high-risk population due to mainly outdoor work and subsequent overexposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). The aim of this study was to evaluate farmers' and farmworkers' personal sun-protection behaviours and their perception of the importance of sun protection.
Subjects and methods Farmers and farm workers (n= 243) were surveyed at rural and regional shows and agricultural events in New South Wales between November 2017 and August 2018.
Results The sun-protective behaviours most frequently reported as always practised were wearing a shirt with a collar (44.8%), wearing a wide-brimmed hat (33.9%), and wearing a long-sleeved shirt (29.6%). Although less than half always practised thesebehaviours, the majority of farmers ranked these behaviours as very or extremely important: wearing a wide-brimmed hat(89.6%), wearing a shirt with a collar (89.5%), and wearing a long-sleeved shirt (82.3%). Sex (female) and higher level of education was associated with greater sun-protective behaviour. Higher income and health insurance were associated with more positive perceptions of the importance of sun-protective behaviour. Potential skin cancers were detected on 30% of participants who underwent a partial skin check.
Conclusion These results indicate a need for appropriate and targeted primary prevention health education messages to encourage farmers to improve their sun-protection practices and undertake annual skin checks to enable early detection of skin cancers.
Link
Citation
Journal of Public Health, 28(6), p. 675-684
ISSN
1613-2238
2198-1833
Start page
675
End page
684

Files:

NameSizeformatDescriptionLink