Prime osservazioni epidemiologiche da un programma di sorveglianza sanitaria degli agricoltori lombardi

The health surveillance of agricultural workers is un important goal for occupational medicine in rural areas, because of the large number of health risks present, the underreporting of diseases, and the lack of sound epidemiological data. At the International Centre for Rural Health of Milan is currently running, since September 2008, a project aimed at provision of health surveillance to workers on the territory and at collecting a better understanding of the health conditions of these working populations This paper is one of the first outcomes of this activity, and describes some preliminary epidemiological findings collected in a group of 278 workers of 99 farms. The authors report data on the presence in the population under study of diseases such as allergy, asthma, chronic pulmonary and respiratory diseases, and hearing loss caused by noise. Data show the presence of this last disease, in 30% of the study group, mainly in workers engaged in noisy activities, such as tractor driving and garden maintenance.. On the other hand, our preliminary data do not show a significant difference between farmers and general population with regard to allergy and respiratory diseases. Data regarding musculoskeletal disorders will be collected in the next future with a specifically addressed approach.