Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Seasonal agricultural workers are agricultural workers migrating to places where agricultural demand is high, migrating to their own countries at the end of the season. This group is a vulnerable group because of the inadequacy of living conditions and the inability to reach basic human rights services (health, education). Our aim is to determine the frequency of gastroesophageal reflux disease in seasonal agricultural workers that is exposed to the worst conditions of working life. Methodology: The study is a cross-sectional study was carried out on seasonal agricultural workers working in the countryside of Eskişehir (Turkey) in 2017. A total of 536 seasonal agricultural workers agreed to participate in the study constituted the study group. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) Scale was used to assess the frequency of gastroesophageal reflux disease in the study. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent variables associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Findings: In the study group, 201 (37.5%) were male and 335 (62.5%) were female. The age of the seasonal agricultural workers ranged from 18 to 92 years, with a mean age of 39.05 ± 13.59 years. The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in seasonal agricultural workers was found 82.8 (n = 444) in the study. In multivariate analysis, gastroesophageal reflux disease was found to be higher in male (OR: 2.072), those age >30 (OR: 1.891), with monthly average income <500€ (OR: 5.200) and body mass index of ≥25 (OR: 1.962) (p ≤ 0.05 for each). Conclusion & Significance: In order to reduce the frequency of gastroesophageal reflux disease in seasonal agricultural workers, the average family income situation should be corrected and combated with obesity Recent Publications: 1. Villarejo, Don. The health of US hired farm workers. Annual review of public health 24.1 (2003): 175-193. 2. Katz, P.O., Gerson, L.B., Vela, M. F. Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of gastroesophageal reflux disease. The American journal of gastroenterology, 2013. 108(3), 308. 3. Özseker B, Yasar NF, Bilgin M, Kurt Y, Balcioglu H, Bilge U. Turkish validation of National Institutes of Health (NIH) patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS®) Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) scale. Biomedical Research. 2016. 4. Kutlu, Seher, and İbrahim Koruk. Migrant seasonal farmworkers: Health related quality of life and the factors that affect it. Turkish Journal of Public Health 12.2 (2014): 80-90. 5. Cohen E, Bolus R, Khanna D, Hays RD, Chang L, Melmed GY, et al. GERD symptoms in the general population: prevalence and severity versus care-seeking patients. Digestive diseases and sciences. 2014;59(10):2488-96.

Biography

Yasemin Saglan has been graduated from Cumhuriyet University, Turkey as medical doctor in 2012. She was a research assistant from 2013 to 2017 at Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Turkey. She is currently working as a family medicine specialist in Eskisehir Odunpazarı District Health Directorate. Diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases and community health projects are interests of her. In addition, she works in the smoking cessation clinic.

E-mail: yasemin.kurt.com@hotmail.com