Since the 2000s, a growing number of studies have been conducted that evaluate
rural working conditions in sugarcane plantations. However, there is a need to
organize their findings and compile the measures they suggest to protect
workers’ health. The objective of this review was to map scientific publications
on rural work at sugarcane plantations and its influence on the health of the
industry’s workers. The methodological approach adopted was a scoping review,
performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and
Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. Literature searches were
conducted in December 2019 using the Cochrane, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus,
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and
Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde databases. The inclusion criteria were
original or review studies that answer the research question, with full text
available in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, using qualitative or quantitative
approaches. Articles were excluded if they did not answer the primary question,
if they were duplicates, opinion pieces, theoretical reflections, books,
guidelines, theses, or dissertations. A total of 193 studies were identified, 12
of which met the eligibility criteria. These studies showed that sugarcane
workers are exposed to thermal, chemical, biological, physiological, mechanical,
and emotional risks. The main health problems observed were respiratory,
circulatory, renal, and musculoskeletal problems, genotoxic agents, and
work-related accidents. It was therefore possible to conclude that the sugarcane
work environment can impact workers’ health and disease processes.