1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research in the Workloads and the Health Care of Farmers Engaging in Farming at a Mountain Village
| Project/Area Number |
02670232
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Research Field |
Hygiene
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Kurume University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
SUENAGA Takajiro Kurume University, School of Medicine, Lecturer, 医学部, 講師 (80131762)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
NAKAGAWA Keiko Kurume University, School of Medicine, Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (60217669)
ISHITAKE Tatsuya Kurume University, School of Medicine, Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (60232295)
SAKURAI Tadayoshi Kurume University, School of Medicine, Assistant Professor (80122620)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1990 – 1991
|
| Keywords | farming hours / hemoglobin / heartbeat / subjective symptom / spraying of agricultural chemicals / static muscle loads / 静的筋負担 |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Farmers who have engaged in farming at mountain village worked about 5000 hours annually and especially in April they worked very long during harvesting bamboo shoots. In the season of bamboo shoots hemoglobin concentration oftheirblood have been decreasing. Their heartbeats fluctuated largely during harvesting bamboo shoots and spraying agricultural chemicals. The heartbeats increased about 42% compared with those at rest time or at noon recess. To the contrary their heartbeats during harvesting oranges and during putting a bag on individual kiwi-fruits increased about 10% at the most. But farmers must raised their upper limbs and bent the neck backward continuously during work of kiwi-fruits. As a result they complained symptoms of neek-shoulder-arm and lower back pain and so on. These symptoms indicate the result of static muscle loads. They sprayed agricultural chemicals to farming products between March and November. The numbers of spraying day were gradually increased from May and reached about 10 days per month in July and August. The concentration of serum ChE (cholinesterase) of almost all farmers became low in September in comparison with that in January by a health examination. It suggested that spraying of agricultural chemicals had some adverse effect on the farmer's body. Farmers engaging in compound farming at a mountain village were forced to work and handle weights at a slope in the harvesting season of oranges, kiwi-fruits and bamboo shoots. It was considered that these serious works reflected finally to small ratio of their body height to their own finger reach span and small mobility of their spine. Moreover their movable trunk limit backward and regions of their back tenderness suggested the fatigue of their lumbar muscles and the strong loads to their spine and intervertebral disks during work.
|
