Pesticide exposure conditions on Parkinson’s disease patients followed at a neurology clinic of a university hospital and perception of the relationship of exposure with illness

Abstract

The objective of this research was to investigate, from the work history of patients with Parkinson’s disease, followed at the neurology outpatient clinic of a university hospital, the occurrence and conditions of exposure to pesticides, as well as the perception of the relationship between exposure and illness. This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative and qualitative approach, carried out at the Hospital Universitário do Oeste do Paraná, in Cascavel, Paraná, Brazil. 32 subjects, or family members, with Parkinson’s disease were interviewed by telephone interview using a semi-structured script. Of these, 16 (50%) were men; most of them retired elderly (87.48%), with low education (53.13%); 25 (78.11%) worked in agriculture, living in rural areas from 11 to 30 years old; 24 (74.98%) stated that they had direct or indirect contact with pesticides; the most cited form of pesticide application was with costal spray; Most (75%) did not use personal protective equipment and learned to handle pesticides with family members. It is concluded that a significant number of individuals with Parkinson’s disease had some labor activity in agriculture, many of them with direct contact with pesticides, either in the preparation and application or even in the washing of clothes.