Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2011 Mar;16(2):80-9.
doi: 10.1007/s12199-010-0167-9. Epub 2010 Aug 13.

A comparative study of health-promoting lifestyles in agricultural and non-agricultural workers in Japan

Shi-Chen Zhang  1 , Chang-Nian Wei, Kumiko Fukumoto, Koichi Harada, Kimiyo Ueda, Keiko Minamoto, Atsushi Ueda
Affiliations
Comparative Study

A comparative study of health-promoting lifestyles in agricultural and non-agricultural workers in Japan

Shi-Chen Zhang et al. Environ Health Prev Med. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: To clarify the difference in health-promoting lifestyles between agricultural and non-agricultural workers in Japan, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 627 residents living in a town with a mixed rural-urban population.

Methods: The subjects were divided into 8 groups by job (agricultural and non-agricultural), age (young and old), and gender (male and female). To evaluate the subjects' lifestyles, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) was applied. The Bartlett test and the Kendall rank test were performed for statistical analysis.

Results: There was no significant difference in the overall score of the HPLP-II between the two job groups. However, for the HPLP-II subscales, a significantly higher score for "spiritual growth" and a significantly lower score for "physical activity" were seen in the agricultural group than in the non-agricultural group. In general, the old and female groups showed higher scores than the corresponding groups, regardless of job type.

Conclusions: It was determined that the major countermeasures to maintain a healthy lifestyle in agricultural workers should be associated with how to introduce daily activities that maintain and enhance "spiritual growth" and improve "physical activity".

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean overall Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP)-II scores (a) and mean scores for the HPLP-II subscales (b-g), as well as rank orders (a-g) for agricultural (n = 130) and non-agricultural groups (n = 497). Data are means ± SD. Statistical analysis was performed by the Bartlett test of one-way analysis of variance. Significant differences between corresponding groups are indicated as follows: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Numbers in circles ①-⑧ indicate the rank order of each score in each group. Symbols for the agricultural group are as follows: open squares young-male, open triangles old-male, open circles young-female, open diamonds old-female. Symbols for the non-agricultural group are as follows: filled squares young-male, filled triangles old-male, filled circles young-female, filled diamonds old-female
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean overall Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP)-II scores (a) and mean scores for the HPLP-II subscales (b-g), as well as rank orders (a-g) for agricultural (n = 130) and non-agricultural groups (n = 497). Data are means ± SD. Statistical analysis was performed by the Bartlett test of one-way analysis of variance. Significant differences between corresponding groups are indicated as follows: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Numbers in circles ①-⑧ indicate the rank order of each score in each group. Symbols for the agricultural group are as follows: open squares young-male, open triangles old-male, open circles young-female, open diamonds old-female. Symbols for the non-agricultural group are as follows: filled squares young-male, filled triangles old-male, filled circles young-female, filled diamonds old-female
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Scientific Committee of on Rural Health. Agriculture, pesticides and organic dusts work plan 2006–2009. ICOH; 2007.
    1. Journal of Health and Welfare Statistics. Health & Welfare Statistics Association. 2009;56(9):314.
    1. Yamane Y. Health promoting rural community in Japan: a path to the future. JRM. 2006;2:47–77.
    1. Ueda A. Stress and stress coping in Japanese agricultural workers. Agric Med Rural Health. 2000;48(6):830–844.
    1. WHO. Ottawa charter for health promotion. Health Promot Int. 1, iii–v; 1986.

Publication types