Pulmonary function and respiratory conditions among upstate New York farm residents

Agriculture in New York State constitutes a large percentage of land area involving a diversity of commodities on primarily small owner/operator farms. Previous research suggests that occupational exposures may place farmers at risk for numerous respiratory conditions. The purpose of this study was to describe the occurrence of respiratory symptoms and conditions among a cohort of NYS farm residents and to examine farm resident and farm work characteristics predictive of abnormal pulmonary function, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. The sample used for this analysis consisted of 416 farm owner/operators, farm family members, or other year-round workers who participated in the health screening portion of the Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance project. For this cohort, the prevalence of abnormal pulmonary function was 9.1%, chronic bronchitis 7.9%, and asthma 3.0%. Significant predictors of abnormal pulmonary function included haying (OR 3.834) and perceived usefulness of personal protective equipment (OR 3.302). Significant predictors of chronic bronchitis were self-reported organic dust toxicity syndrome in the past year (OR 4.376), gross sales of $100,000 to $249,999 (OR 4.271), and smoking (OR 3.769). Significant predictors of asthma were primarily farm animals and included horses (OR 1.198), poultry (OR 1.043), and sheep lambs or goats (OR 1.004) as well as acreage of soy (OR 1.008). In addition, this presentation will discuss potential confounding variables and the healthy worker effect as observed in this study. Data analysis suggests a number of agricultural exposures are associated with respiratory impairments. Understanding these exposures can direct disease prevention and risk reduction strategies.