Seasonal agricultural workers' personal well-being and preventive behaviors about Covid- 19 in Turkey

Abstract

Background Seasonal agricultural workers working and living in inappropriate sanitary conditions are at great risk for public health. This study aimed to determine the relationships between the sociodemographic variables and life satisfaction of seasonal agricultural workers, and their knowledge, risk perception, and protective behaviors about the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This is a cross-sectional study, that included agricultural workers who are 18 years of age or older and worked seasonally in Yozgat, Turkey, during the period between August 2020 and October 2020. The well-being level was measured using the Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult form (PWIA). The data were collected using the face-to-face survey method and with 739 workers who voluntarily participated in the research. Results All participants disclosed having insufficient information about Covid-19 and indicated their peers and television as their sources of information. The vast majority of the workers stated that they complied with the mask mandates, social distancing, and hand hygiene. No correlations were found between knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about Covid-19 and the level of wellbeing. The mean PWIA score of the workers was low (53.7) while they were mostly satisfied with their personal relationships (96.6) and health (76.1). The multivariable linear regression analysis revealed that being male (β = 0.245) and not having an ongoing health issue (β = 0.689) were associated with more PWIA; on the other hand, having more children (β = -0.52) was related to less PWIA. Conclusions The well-being level of seasonal workers was lower while it was not associated with knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about Covid-19.

Evaluation of Variables Affecting Depression Symptoms in Seasonal Agricultural Workers

“…Sometimes individual problems cause people to lose their workforce and cause socioeconomic problems, while sometimes socioeconomic problems cause people to experience individual, physical and psychological problems (2). Studies conducted by social sciences in this field focus mostly on quality of life (7). Female gender and being of school age were associated with lower quality of life (8,9).…”