Occupational exposure: rural Australian farmers' sun-protective behaviours

Author(s)
Woods, Cindy
O'Shea, Eilish
Barrett, Fiona
Bookallil, Luke
East, Leah
Usher, Kim
Publication Date
2019-06-04
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. <br/> 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. <br/> 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. <br/> 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.
Citation
Journal of Public Health, 28(6), p. 675-684
ISSN
1613-2238
2198-1833
Link
Language
en
Publisher
Springer
Title
Occupational exposure: rural Australian farmers' sun-protective behaviours
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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