Attending to Pesticide Exposure and Heat Illness Among Farmworkers: Results From an Attention Placebo-Controlled Evaluation Design.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of curricula for improving knowledge and attitudes pertaining to pesticide exposure and heat illness among immigrant Latino farmworkers.

METHODS

A pesticide safety curriculum informed by the revised Worker Protection Standard (WPS) was tested against an attention placebo-controlled curriculum (heat illness) in a sample of Latino farmworkers (N = 127).

RESULTS

Pesticide safety knowledge increased in the overall sample, but did not differ by curriculum assignment. Pesticide safety behavioral intentions increased among participants in the pesticide safety curriculum but decreased among those in the other curriculum (P < 0.05). Heat illness knowledge and behavioral intentions increased more for farmworkers assigned to the heat illness than the pesticide safety curriculum.

CONCLUSION

The developed curricula show good promise for meeting the spirit of the revised WPS and for reducing the burden of heat-related fatality and morbidity among Latino farmworkers.