Abstract:

Aim: The study's goal was to evaluate the association between vegetable growers' opinions on pesticide use in greenhouse farming and their level of health literacy. Method: The universe of this descriptive-cross-sectional research consists of greenhouses of 10 hectares and above located in Adana Province Seyhan District. Sample selection was not made and it was aimed to reach the population. The research was completed with 335 greenhouse workers who accepted the research. Power analysis was performed to evaluate the sample size and the power of the study with the G*Power 3.0.10 program was found to be 99.5%. Introductory information form for individuals and “Adult Health Literacy Scale (YSOÖ)” were used to collect data. In analysis “Mann-Whitney U” test (Z-table value), “Kruskal-Wallis H” test (χ2-table value) method was used. Bonferroni correction was applied for pairwise comparisons of variables with significant difference in three or more groups. The “Spearman” correlation coefficient was used for the variables that did not have a normal distribution. Results: 57.3% of the greenhouse workers participating in the research are women, 37.9% are between the ages of 18-27, 40.0% have primary school education, 65.6% have an average daily working time of 9-12 hours, It was determined that 61.8% did not have regular health check-ups, 86.6% used pesticides in the greenhouse, 55.2% were dealers where they supplied pesticides, 68.3% read the warnings on the effects of pesticides. It has been observed that the mean Adult Health Literacy Scale score is 12.86±4.25, and as health literacy increases, the rate of having regular health checks, reading pesticide labels and applying what they read increases. Conclusions and Suggestions:In this study, it was observed that the pesticide use of greenhouse workers was high (86.6%). Additionally, it was discovered that pesticide usage behaviors exhibited a favorable tendency when health literacy levels increased. Further studies with experimental designs, individual and family-oriented training programs, and qualitative research that evaluates the effectiveness of training programs applied to greenhouse workers are also recommended.

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