Depression and Risk Factors Among Iowa Farmers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burmeister LF ; Lewis MQ ; Scarth RD ; Zwerling C
• Description:
  This study of 390 Iowa farmworkers was designed to assess the prevalence and risk factors for depression. The relationships and magnitudes of risk factors for depressive symptoms were measured for primary farm operators in the Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project. Of the farmworkers surveyed 12.1% had depressive symptoms based on a cut off point of 16 on a standardized questionnaire for depressive symptoms, the CES-D Scale. A weighted multiple logistic regression model yielded the following risk factors for depressive symptoms: legal problems, 7.35; not married, 3.89; sentimental value loss, 2.96; substantial decrease in income, 2.91; and decline in general health assessment compared with the group who were in excellent health, 3.39, and compared with the fair and poor group, 5.41. The authors suggest that if risk factors for depression can be identified and quantified, preventive strategies and treatments can be designed and implemented. The authors conclude that the risk factors identified were logical and most were similar to other studies. They also conclude that the effects appear to be cumulative. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Mental Disorders Mental Health Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Attitude Mental-stress NIOSH-Cooperative-Agreement Psychological-disorders Risk-factors
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  207-216
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00239394
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 1997 Jan; 4(3/4):207-216
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19900928
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  19980927
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:737b6e90867dcd4a5a9940e285f830bbf5b33c3b2119f2dff0bc45b322f099fc9ad18950993ad65e77c9f0234f626b992485c51287ede2d6fb6f3239633cb5b8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/197989/cdc_197989_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 282.42 KB ]