Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Respiratory and Hearing Health Protection among Midwestern Farm/Agricultural Operators

Farm/agricultural operators are at significant risk for serious health problems based on the duration and hazardous levels of exposure they have to grain dust, animal dust, and noise. Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, respirators, ear muffs, and ear plugs has been shown to reduce the incidence of hearing loss and short-term/long-term respiratory conditions among farmers by more than 50%. However, only about 44% of farmers use PPE on a regular basis. The cost benefits of prevention in hearing loss, for example, show that if hearing loss were eliminated among all Ag workers, this would translate into 241,623 Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs) with an economic value of $12.08 billion.             

The purpose of this study was to obtain baseline and comparison data regarding farmers’  pre/post intervention knowledge about hazardous risk exposures, attitudes about the perceived risks associated with unprotected exposures, and  current practices in using PPE to inform effective community-based program interventions for education and community outreach. A mailed survey design was used in 2013. A 30-item instrument was developed by the researchers and pilot-tested. The instrument was mailed to farm/agricultural operators in a seven-state region of the Midwest in January 2013. The survey yielded useful baseline data for long-term measures (i.e. End Outcomes of the Logic Model) for impact of programming on population knowledge, attitudes, practices for safety and health. The survey is repeated in May 2014 tracking changes in knowledge, attitudes, practices based on the Center’s educational programs promoting hearing and dust protection and reporting implications for programming changes.