NEUROBEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES AMONG FARM AND NONFARM RURAL ECUADORIANS

International researchers have urged greater use of simple neurobehavi oral batteries in developing country settings where higher levels of e xposure and a variety of cultural and demographic factors may both occ ur. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 144 farm members and 72 a ge and education frequency-matched controls from rural Ecuador, using an amplified Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery. Farm members ranged fr om those with only indirect pesticide contact to applicators regularly applying organophosphate and carbamate insecticides by backpack spray er. The distributions of scores showed those with less than 4 years of formal education and at the extremes of age (<16 or >65 years old) co ntributed sufficiently to nonnormality that they had to be excluded fr om subsequent analyses (resultant n = 170). After adjustment for age a nd education, language-based IQ test scores and farm membership were t he most consistent determinants of neurobehavioral outcomes. Visual-sp atial tasks were the most sensitive to the effects of farm membership. Gender (women better than men), alcohol problems, and solvent use wer e also important for some neurobehavioral tests. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sci ence Inc.