Characterization of Heat-Related Illness in Central Florida Farmworkers

描述（由申请人提供）：随着地球表面变暖，热相关疾病（HRI）正在成为对公共健康的严重威胁。某些职业群体，包括农业工人，面临着更大的危险。在这些危险的职业环境中进行日常工作而没有足够的喘息可能会导致HRI级联的进展，从热痉挛到极端情况下的多器官衰竭。如果过高的湿度和低气流是农业工人的工作环境的特征，一些亚群的风险特别高，绕过身体的传统热调节机制。这些工作条件挑战了身体的适应能力，并可能导致HRI级联的更快进展，增强了与热相关的发病率和死亡率的风险。 这项探索性研究的目的是描述佛罗里达州农业工人的工作环境，并探讨个人因素和生理反应之间的关系，热应激在他们的工作环境。将招募佛罗里达中部的60名讲西班牙语的农业工人，以1）描述这些工人的职业环境，2）描述他们对热应激的生理反应，3）记录自我报告的HRI症状，4）评估工作实践和工作强度。将对三类农业工人进行抽样：1）蕨类植物工人，2）作物工人，3）苗圃工人。据推测，蕨类植物工人谁是保护直接阳光照射，但谁经历了炎热，高湿度的环境将有更高水平的未补偿的热应力相比，工人在苗圃操作或在开放的作物领域。了解农业工作实践，个人风险因素和在危险的极端高温环境中工作的生理反应将有助于指导预防中暑策略，并减少这一弱势群体与高温相关的健康差异。这项研究的结果还将扩大人权倡议的知识，并有助于对其他弱势工作人口的干预。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As the earth's surface warms, heat-related illness (HRI) is emerging as a serious threat to public health. Certain occupational groups are at an increased risk for HRI, including agricultural workers. Routine work in these hazardous occupational settings without adequate respite may lead to progression down the HRI cascade, ranging from heat cramps to multi-organ failure in extreme cases. Some subpopulations of agricultural workers are at particular high risk if excessively high levels of humidity and low airflow characterize their work environments, circumventing the body's traditional heat regulatory mechanisms. These work conditions challenge the body's capacity to adapt and may lead to more rapid progression down the HRI cascade, potentiating the risk of heat-related morbidity and mortality. The goal of this exploratory research is to characterize the work environment of agricultural workers in the state of Florida and explore the relationships between personal factors and physiologic responses to heat stress in their work environment. A total of 60 Spanish-speaking, agricultural workers in Central Florida will be recruited to 1) characterize the occupational environment of these workers 2) characterize their physiologic responses to heat stress; 3) document self-reported HRI symptoms; and 4) assess work practices and work intensity. Three types of agricultural workers will be sampled: 1) fernery workers, 2) crop workers, and 3) nursery workers. It is hypothesized that fernery workers who are protected from direct sun, but who experience a hot, high humidity environment will have higher levels of uncompensated heat stress when compared to workers in nursery operations or in open crop fields. Knowledge about agricultural work practices, individual risk factors and physiologic responses to work in hazardous extreme heat environments will help direct heat prevention strategies and decrease heat-related health disparities in this vulnerable population. Results from this study will also expand HRI knowledge and contribute to interventions for other vulnerable working populations.