Situations of work-related diseases and injuries among agriculturists in the upper northeast regions of Thailand

Abstract

Background: Agriculturists exposed to health hazards are affected by increased occupational disease. This retrospective study aimed to investigate situations of work-related diseases and injuries among agriculturists in upper northeast Thailand. Methods: The secondary data of international classification of diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) case reports of occupational disease among farmers for 2014-2016, from the database of the Health Data Center (HDC), were used. We collected the number of registered farmers from the agricultural office and secondary data of ICD-10 from the hospital information system (HIS) of healthcare services in Udon Thani and Roi-Et provinces. The annual morbidity rate of occupational diseases was analyzed and presented at a rate per 100,000 farmers of the studied area. Results: Among farmers who visited healthcare service providers, lung disease, which was not reported as occupational disease of the HDC database, was the highest ranking of all diseases, followed by work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), noise- and heat-related diseases, and pesticide toxicity, respectively, while the injury rate was as high as that of WMSDs. The morbidity rate of Udon Thani was higher than that of Roi-Et province, whose rate was closer to the national rate. The number of farmers from the HDC database was not reflective of numbers of registered farmers, even though the case reports of the HDC was lower than that of the HIS with occupational ICD-10 codes, which might explain the underestimation of the morbidity rate of occupational disease. Conclusions: The morbidity rate of lung disease, noise- and heat-related diseases, and pesticide toxicity increased every year (2014-2016) and reflects the health problems among agriculturists in Thailand. The underestimation in the reported disease rate is explained from big data analysis by the rare recording of work-related cases among those agriculturists. Therefore, Thai agriculturists should be supported in registration with occupational diseases surveillance as holistic healthcare.