Table 2.
General characteristic of study participants
| Characteristics n (%) or mean (SD) | Total (n = 335) | Conventional farmers (n = 163) | Organic farmers (n = 172) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender, n (%) | <0.001* | |||
| Male | 190 (56.7) | 118 (72.4) | 72 (41.9) | |
| Female | 145 (43.3) | 45 (27.6) | 100 (58.1) | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 47.9 (8.6) | 47.3 (9.7) | 48.4 (7.4) | 0.218 |
| Cigarette smoking, n (%) | 0.035* | |||
| Never | 249 (74.3) | 116 (71.2) | 133 (77.3) | |
| Former | 21 (6.3) | 7 (4.3) | 14 (8.1) | |
| Current | 65 (19.4) | 40 (24.5) | 25 (14.5) | |
| Alcohol consumption, n (%) | <0.001* | |||
| Never | 127 (37.9) | 52 (31.9) | 75 (43.6) | |
| Former | 26 (7.8) | 1 (0.6) | 25 (14.5) | |
| Current | 182 (54.3) | 110 (67.5) | 72 (41.9) | |
| Industrial noise ever, n (%) | 0.009* | |||
| No | 250 (74.6) | 132 (81.0) | 118 (68.6) | |
| Yes | 85 (25.4) | 31 (19.0) | 54 (31.4) | |
| Industrial solvent ever, n (%) | 0.558 | |||
| No | 315 (94.0) | 152 (93.3) | 163 (94.8) | |
| Yes | 20 (6.0) | 11 (6.7) | 9 (5.2) | |
| Military services ever, n (%) | 0.325 | |||
| No | 311 (92.8) | 149 (91.4) | 162 (94.2) | |
| Yes | 24 (7.2) | 14 (8.6) | 10 (5.8) | |
| Second job, n (%) | <0.001* | |||
| No | 195 (58.2) | 123 (75.5) | 72 (41.9) | |
| Yes | 140 (41.8) | 40 (24.5) | 100 (58.1) | |
| Years of agricultural machinery use, mean (SD) | 8.6 (8.4) | 11.9 (7.7) | 5.5 (7.9) | <0.001* |
| Years involved in conventional farming, mean (SD) | 19.0 (10.9) | 21.9 (10.2) | 16.3 (11.0) | <0.001* |
| Cumulative agricultural machinery noise exposure (dB(A)-years), mean (SD)a | 62.7 (39.5) | 86.2 (10.9) | 40.4 (43.7) | <0.001* |
| Cumulative herbicides exposure (score-years), mean (SD)a | — | 3.89 (5.54) | — | |
| Cumulative fungicides exposure (score-years), mean (SD)a | — | 0.91 (2.76) | — | |
| Cumulative insecticides exposure (score-years), mean (SD)a | — | 1.80 (3.31) | — | |
| Cumulative organophosphates exposure (score-years), mean (SD)a | — | 0.58 (1.62) | — | |
| Cumulative carbamates exposure (score-years), mean (SD)a | — | 0.25 (1.18) | — | |
| Cumulative pyrethroids exposure (score-years), mean (SD)a | — | 0.36 (0.94) | — |
aData only calculated from conventional farmers.
*Significant at P-value 0.05.