TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender differences in respiratory health outcomes among farming cohorts around the globe: findings from the AGRICOH consortium
AU - Fix, Jonathan
AU - Annesi-Maesano, Isabella
AU - Baldi, Isabelle
AU - Boulanger, Mathilde
AU - Cheng, Soo
AU - Cortes, Sandra
AU - Dalphin, Jean-Charles
AU - Dalvie, Mohamed Aqiel
AU - Degano, Bruno
AU - Douwes, Jeroen
AU - Eduard, Wijnand
AU - Elholm, Grethe
AU - Ferreccio, Catterina
AU - Harding, Anne-Helen
AU - Jeebhay, Mohamed
AU - Kelly, Kevin M.
AU - Kromhout, Hans
AU - MacFarlane, Ewan
AU - Maesano, Cara Nichole
AU - Mitchell, Diane Catherine
AU - Mwanga, Hussein
AU - Naidoo, Saloshni
AU - Negatu, Beyene
AU - Ngajilo, Dorothy
AU - Nordby, Karl-Christian
AU - Parks, Christine G.
AU - Schenker, Marc B.
AU - Shin, Aesun
AU - Sisgaard, Torben
AU - Sim, Malcolm
AU - Soumagne, Thibaud
AU - Thorne, Peter
AU - Yoo, Keun-Young
AU - Hoppin, Jane A.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Purpose: Respiratory hazards of farming have been identified for centuries, with little focus on
gender differences. We used data from the AGRICOH consortium, a collective of prospective
cohorts of agricultural workers, to assess respiratory disease prevalence among adults in 18
cohorts representing over 200,000 farmers, farm workers, and their spouses from six continents.
Methods: Cohorts collected data between 1992 and 2016 and ranged in size from 200 to
>128,000 individuals; 44% of participants were female. Farming practices varied from subsistence
farming to large-scale industrial agriculture. All cohorts provided respiratory outcome information
for their cohort based on their study definitions. The majority of outcomes were based on selfreport using standard respiratory questionnaires; the greatest variability in assessment methods
was associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Results: For all three respiratory symptoms (cough, phlegm, and wheeze), the median prevalence in
men was higher than in women, with the greatest difference for phlegm (17% vs. 10%). For asthma,
women had a higher prevalence (7.8% vs 6.5%), with the difference associated with allergic asthma.
The relative proportion of allergic asthma varied among cohorts. In two of eight cohorts for women
and two of seven cohorts for men, allergic asthma was more common than non-allergic asthma.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that respiratory outcomes are common among farmers
around the world despite differences in agricultural production. As women in the general
population are at higher risk of asthma, exploring gender differences in occupational studies is
critical for a deeper understanding of respiratory disease among agricultural workers.
AB - Purpose: Respiratory hazards of farming have been identified for centuries, with little focus on
gender differences. We used data from the AGRICOH consortium, a collective of prospective
cohorts of agricultural workers, to assess respiratory disease prevalence among adults in 18
cohorts representing over 200,000 farmers, farm workers, and their spouses from six continents.
Methods: Cohorts collected data between 1992 and 2016 and ranged in size from 200 to
>128,000 individuals; 44% of participants were female. Farming practices varied from subsistence
farming to large-scale industrial agriculture. All cohorts provided respiratory outcome information
for their cohort based on their study definitions. The majority of outcomes were based on selfreport using standard respiratory questionnaires; the greatest variability in assessment methods
was associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Results: For all three respiratory symptoms (cough, phlegm, and wheeze), the median prevalence in
men was higher than in women, with the greatest difference for phlegm (17% vs. 10%). For asthma,
women had a higher prevalence (7.8% vs 6.5%), with the difference associated with allergic asthma.
The relative proportion of allergic asthma varied among cohorts. In two of eight cohorts for women
and two of seven cohorts for men, allergic asthma was more common than non-allergic asthma.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that respiratory outcomes are common among farmers
around the world despite differences in agricultural production. As women in the general
population are at higher risk of asthma, exploring gender differences in occupational studies is
critical for a deeper understanding of respiratory disease among agricultural workers.
KW - Farmers
KW - Respiratory Health
KW - Gender
KW - Farmworkers
KW - Occupational Exposure
U2 - 10.1080/1059924X.2020.1713274
DO - 10.1080/1059924X.2020.1713274
M3 - Article
SN - 1059-924X
VL - 26
SP - 97
EP - 108
JO - Journal of Agromedicine
JF - Journal of Agromedicine
IS - 2
ER -