Simplified surveillance system for farmworkers in the California border region


Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

5003.0: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - Board 3

Abstract #117455

Alfonso Rodriguez-Lainz, PhD¹, Paula Kriner, MPH², Rosyo Ramirez², and Amy Binggeli, DrPH, RD, CHES². (1) California Office of Binational Border Health, 3851 Rosecrans St., San Diego, CA 92138, (2) Imperial County Public Health Department, 935 Broadway, El Centro, CA 92243, (760) 482-4716, amybinggeli@imperialcounty.net

Little is known about the health of migrant farmworkers in California. Traditional health surveillance methods fail to capture health data about this hard-to-reach population. In Imperial County, California, a predominantly Latino farming community located on the U.S. border with Mexico, most farmworkers are uninsured and do not routinely access health care in the United States.

In 2004, Imperial County Public Health Department and the California Office of Binational Border Health piloted an epidemiologic surveillance system using community health workers to provide health assessments and referrals to health care for farmworkers. The goal is to improve surveillance of communicable diseases, chronic conditions, occupational illnesses, and other health problems among farmworkers.

Community health workers contacted farmworkers in places where they tend to congregate: hiring sites, health fairs, border crossing areas, and packing sheds. Farmworkers were asked about health complaints and symptoms using a questionnaire and a syndromic algorithm. All 224 survey participants were Latino; most were male (86.2%), and born in Mexico (84.7%). The most frequently reported health problems include undefined conditions (39.3%), muscle problems (27.2%), dental problems (21.0%), eye problems (15.2%), injuries (9.8%), and pesticide poisoning (7.6%). Other conditions reported were paralysis (5.4%), high blood pressure (5.4%), diabetes (3.6%), skin problems (2.7%), and asthma (2.7%). There were also four reports of sexually transmitted diseases and two suspect cases of tuberculosis.

This surveillance system was successful in identifying non-reported suspected disease cases among farmworkers. During 2005, surveillance activities will be expanded throughout the county.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

1. Describe appropriate surveillance methods for hard-to-reach populations, such as farmworkers"
2. Describe the most frequent health conditions affecting farmworkers
3. Recognize the role of community health workers in epidemiologic surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Assessments and Practices in Refugee and Immigrant Health

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA