Background

Among the adverse health effects of exposure to pesticides, an association with diabetes has been reported. However, there is a lack of epidemiologic studies on the health effects of exposure to pesticides, particularly investigating the association between occupational pesticide exposure and diabetes prevalence.

Purpose

The present study examined the association between pesticide exposure and prevalence of diabetes in a rural population in Korea.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used data from the Korea Farmers Cohort study, and included 2559 participants in the baseline survey between November 2005 and January 2008. We performed a clinical examination including blood sampling and assessed data on diabetes diagnosis, demographics, and pesticide exposure. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between pesticide exposure and diabetes prevalence, adjusting for age, sex, monthly income, and marital status. In addition, a stratified analysis by body mass index (BMI) was conducted, with two categories: normal weight (<25 kg/m²) and overweight or obese (≥25 kg/m²).

Results

At baseline, the prevalence of diabetes was 9.30%. Pesticide exposure was associated with the risk of diabetes after adjustment for covariates. In the analysis stratified by BMI, all the variables related to pesticide exposure were associated with prevalence of diabetes in the overweight or obese group, whereas no significant association was found in the normal weight group.

Conclusion

Exposure to pesticides was associated with diabetes, and this association was stronger in overweight or obese individuals than in normal weight individuals. Further longitudinal studies that consider information on BMI are necessary.

中文翻译：

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韩国农村人口中的农药暴露和糖尿病患病率

背景

接触农药对健康的不良影响中，有与糖尿病有关的报道。但是，缺乏关于农药接触对健康的影响的流行病学研究，尤其是调查职业农药接触与糖尿病患病率之间的关系。

目的

本研究调查了韩国农村人口中农药暴露与糖尿病患病率之间的关系。

方法

这项横断面研究使用了韩国农民队列研究的数据，在2005年11月至2008年1月之间，共有2559名参与者参加了基线调查。我们进行了临床检查，包括血液采样以及有关糖尿病诊断，人口统计学和农药暴露的评估数据。进行逻辑回归分析以评估农药暴露与糖尿病患病率之间的关联，并根据年龄，性别，月收入和婚姻状况进行调整。此外，还按体重指数（BMI）进行了分层分析，分为两类：正常体重（<25 kg / m ²）和超重或肥胖（≥25kg / m ²）。

结果

在基线时，糖尿病的患病率为9.30％。调整协变量后，农药暴露与糖尿病风险相关。在按体重指数进行分层的分析中，与农药暴露有关的所有变量均与超重或肥胖组的糖尿病患病率相关，而在正常体重组中未发现显着相关性。

结论

接触农药与糖尿病有关，超重或肥胖者的这种关联比正常体重者更强。需要进一步的纵向研究，以考虑有关BMI的信息。