Ascertainment of pesticide exposures of migrant and seasonal farmworker children: Findings from focus groups

Background To design questionnaires for epidemiologic research among children of migrant farmworkers, researchers need to consider ways to best solicit information about pesticide exposures. Methods Bilingual facilitators conducted five focus groups with either migrant farmworker mothers or their children (age range 8-16 years) in southern Texas and northeastern Colorado. Guided questions were used to assess activities of migrant farmworker children and the ways to best elicit information about exposure to pesticides. Results Participants reported a large number of activities that may potentially expose children to pesticides through both direct and indirect routes. Prompting, indirect questions about chemical use, and use of local and trusted facilitators increased information elicited from focus group participants. Conclusions These focus groups helped to provide information for developing questionnaire items related to pesticide exposure among migrant farmworker children, and highlighted the importance of using bilingual community interviewers and including children as respondents. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.