142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Risk factors for non-fatal agricultural injury in principal operators: Central States Injury Surveillance: 2012-2013

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 12:54 PM - 1:06 PM

Rohan Jadhav, BAMS, MPH , Department of Enviornmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Lina Lander, ScD , Department of Epidemiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Chandran Achutan, PhD , Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Gleb Haynatzki, PhD , Department of Biostatistics, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Shireen Rajaram, PhD , Department of Health Promotion and Social and Behavioral Health, University of Nebraka Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Ketki Patel, MD MPH , Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Risto Rautiainen, PhD , Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: Injury surveillance is conducted annually by Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health and National Agricultural Statistics Service. We evaluated risk factors for injury in farmers who were principal operators.

Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered mail survey was sent to stratified samples of 6953 farms in 2012 and 6912 farms in 2013 in a seven-state region in central United States. The survey included individual and farm-level attributes. We calculated the two-year cumulative incidence of injury among responding farmers aged 20 years and more and conducted univariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses to evaluate predictors of injury.

Results: The response rate was 33.1% and 34.6% in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The two-year cumulative incidence was highest in farmers aged 45-54 years, 10.82/100 or 91 injuries/841farmers, and was lowest in farmers aged 65 and more, 5.23/100 or 78 injuries/1790 farmers. Greater land area, produced field crops, higher percent of work hours in farm (vs. other) work and had higher percent income from farming were risk factors for injury. In adjusted models, injury risk was elevated in farmers whose primary (vs. secondary) occupation was farming/ranching; OR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.09-2.82 and farmers who used higher (vs. lower) number of tractors of 40-99hp size; OR=1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.25. Being a retired  farmer was protective against injury compared to farmers who worked; OR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.31-0.79.

Conclusion: Middle-aged farmers had the highest injury rate. Greater exposure to farm/ranch work and use of tractor in 40-99 hp size elevated the risk of injury.

Learning Areas:

Environmental health sciences
Epidemiology
Occupational health and safety
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe two-year cumulative incidence of injury and evaluate predictors of injury in principal farm/ranch operators in Central States.

Keyword(s): Epidemiology, Environmental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a PhD student in UNMC and risk factors for agricultural injuries is the area of my dissertation. This presentation at APHA will be part of my research work for my doctoral program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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