Cent Eur J Public Health 2009, 17(4):207-214 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3551

Natural and Man-made Health Hazards in Rural Slovakia

Gabriel Gulis1, Jana Kollarová2, Zuzana Dietzová2, Jana Labancová2, Martina Behanová3, Martina Ondrušová4
1 Unit for Health Promotion Research, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, Denmark
2 Regional Public Health Authority Košice, Košice, Slovak Republic
3 Pavel Jozef Šafárik University, Institute of Public Health Medical Faculty, Košice, Slovak Republic
4 National Cancer Registry of Slovak Republic, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Context: There is little information on health situation of the people of rural Slovak Republic. The rural environment is often a mixture of natural and man-made hazards, which under some conditions, might turn to be a health risk to humans.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare two regions of the Slovak Republic, two different hazards (natural and man-made), two different methods of health outcome measurement (routine statistics and individual diary based data).

Methods: Ecological study design with focus on cancer incidence analysis was employed in case of natural hazard analysis. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated and are presented in paper. Observational study design was employed to study rural gardening practices and their impact on health.
Findings: Statistically significant differences in SIR were found in rural areas of Spis-Gemer Region (SGR) among males for lip, oral cavity and larynx (1.60, CI 95% 1.12-2.34), respiratory (1.25, CI 95% 1.01-1.55) and digestive organ cancers (1.22, CI 95% 1.01-1.47); hematopoetic cancers are significantly elevated among males in rural areas as well (1.58, CI 95% 1.05-2.39). Pesticide use (83.1% of gardeners use pesticides) without any protective equipment is still widespread among gardeners in rural Slovak Republic (16.9%). The produced fruits and vegetables are substantial part of total fruit and vegetable consumption (51% in summer and 42.7% in winter season) increasing the risk of exposure to pesticides.

Conclusion: Our study shows that on ecological level, mortality and morbidity statistics could be used to assess human health status in linkage to broad exposure measures (urban- rural); on dose response level (arsenic in soil) this method lacks sensitivity. Health survey and diary method on the other hand are useful tools in analysis of rural health especially with respect to man-made hazards.

Keywords: rural health, cancer, gardening, pesticide

Received: February 26, 2009; Revised: May 11, 2009; Accepted: May 11, 2009; Published: December 1, 2009  Show citation

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Gulis G, Kollarová J, Dietzová Z, Labancová J, Behanová M, Ondrušová M. Natural and Man-made Health Hazards in Rural Slovakia. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2009;17(4):207-214. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3551. PubMed PMID: 20377050.
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