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Dairy Farm Work and Protection from Gastrointestinal Illness



Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are a major public health burden in the United States. Due to close contact with animals, farmers may be a high risk subgroup for acute GI infections, though some studies suggest farm work is actually protective against GI illness. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between dairy farm work and GI symptoms over 3 years. A prospective, matched cohort study was used that included 70 adult dairy farm workers and 74 matched (age, gender, ZIP code) non-farm participants from central Wisconsin. The outcome was mean GI symptom scores for abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, dyspepsia, nausea, and reflux, per the 23-item Gastrointestinal Symptoms Severity Index (GISSI). After adjustment for potential confounding variables, linear regression results indicated dairy farm workers had significantly lower GISSI scores for abdominal pain (mean+/-SE = 4.3 +/- 1.1 dairy vs. 7.6 +/- 1.1 non-farm, p = .047), diarrhea (3.2 +/- 1.0 dairy vs. 7.0 +/- 1.0 non-farm, p = .010), constipation (2.0 +/- 0.8 dairy vs. 6.6 +/- 0.8 non-farm, p < .001), and dyspepsia (2.0 +/- 0.6 dairy vs. 3.9 +/- 0.5 non-farm, p = .026). Working on a dairy farm was associated with significantly less frequent and severe GI illness symptoms in adults. Future research should identify underlying causal pathways, including possible farm animal exposures, that influence beneficial gut microbiota that could inform therapeutic remedies to help prevent clinical GI disorders. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    1059-924X
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Grant
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Volume:
    28
  • Issue:
    4
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20067486
  • Citation:
    J Agromedicine 2023 Oct; 28(4):640-646
  • Contact Point Address:
    Jeffrey J. VanWormer, Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Population Health, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, 1000 N Oak Ave, Marshfield, WI 54449
  • Email:
    vanwormer.jeffrey@marshfieldresearch.org
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2024
  • Performing Organization:
    Washington University, Saint Louis
  • Peer Reviewed:
    True
  • Start Date:
    20180901
  • Source Full Name:
    Journal of Agromedicine
  • End Date:
    20220831
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:eb5a0cecb336332bffe1bfef0cc3e7a942b1092088f4e595e49d2de89ffdf59b3e3f0fd2c7e3c99641b2e344c34267000988f581266a1ce320614df575ee6a6f
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 789.86 KB ]
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