Identification of Possible Relationships Between the Use of Pesticides and Health Problems Reported by Residents of Santa Tereza do Oeste – PR

• Autor(a) principal: Chapla, Kelly
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Outros Autores: Martins, Jefferson Gustavo, Guimarães, Ana Tereza Bittencourt, Kille, Peter, Ferreira, Nuno Gonçalo de Carvalho
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista JRG de Estudos Acadêmicos
• Texto Completo: http://revistajrg.com/index.php/jrg/article/view/1011
• topic: Exposição a Agrotóxicos; Impactos na Saúde e Ambiente; População Rural e Urbana; Agricultura; Exposure to Pesticides; Health and Environmental Impacts; Rural and Uurban Population; Agriculture

Pesticides are used to control diseases and pests and have generated environmental and public health problems. Unlike acute health problems, chronic problems result from exposure to pesticides for long periods of time, have more subtle symptoms and are more difficult to diagnose. Based on the above, the present study employs data mining techniques, using the computational tool WEKA (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis), in an attempt to identify possible relationships between the use of pesticides and health problems reported by the citizens of Santa Tereza do Oeste - PR, Brazil. The database used was constructed through the application of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20 Items (SRQ-20), which is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) for assessing psychiatric disorders. In general, the general results corroborate those produced by other studies related to the subject, while the individual results of each employed data mining technique converge with each other. Among others, the relationship between contact with pesticides and fatigue, neurological and gastrointestinal problems was identified. In addition, based on the analysis of the results obtained, a question arose as to how the SRQ-20 is used, evaluating only the quantitative and not the qualitative factor of the answers provided.