Determining the Association Between Pesticide Safety Behaviors and Health Literacy of Farmers Registered in WhatsApp Groups of Antalya Provincial Agriculture and Forest Directorate: A Descriptive-Correlational Study

Objectives: Pesticide use safety practices are essential in preventing pesticide exposure risk. Health literacy should be at a sufficient level to acquire these safety practices. This study aimed to determine the association between pesticide safety practices and health literacy of farmers registered in the WhatsApp groups of the Antalya Provincial Agriculture and Forest Directorate. Method: The sample of this descriptive-correlational study consisted of 221 farmers registered in Whatsapp groups belonging to five districts of Antalya. Research data were collected between March and August 2022 using an online Pesticide Safety Behaviors and Health Literacy Google form. Descriptive statistics, Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, and Pearson Correlation analysis were used to evaluate the data. Results: There was a high positive correlation between pesticide safety behaviors and health literacy mean scores of farmers (r=.844, p