The feasibility of using electronic health records to describe demographic and clinical indicators of migrant and seasonal farmworkers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cooper S ; Delclos G ; Graves J ; Hendrikson E ; Liang Y ; Socias, Christina
• Description:
  Few extensive, national clinical databases exist on the health of migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs). Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly utilized by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and have the potential to improve clinical care and complement current surveillance and epidemiologic studies of underserved working populations, such as MSFWs. The aim of this feasibility study was to describe the demographics and baseline clinical indicators of patients at an FQHC by MSFW status. The authors described 2012 patient demographics, social history, medical indicators, and diagnoses by MSFW status from the de-identified EHR database of a large, multisite Colorado Migrant Health Center (MHC). Included in the study were 41,817 patients from 2012: 553 (1.3%) MSFWs, 20,665 (49.4%) non-MSFWs, and 20,599 (49.3%) who had no information in the MSFW field. MSFWs were more often male, married, employed, Hispanic, and Spanish-speaking compared with non-MSFWs. The most frequent diagnoses for all patients were hypertension, overweight/obesity, lipid disorder, type 2 diabetes, or a back disorder. Although there were significant missing values, this feasibility study was able to analyze medical data in a timely manner and show that Meaningful Use requirements can improve the usability of EHR data for epidemiologic research of MSFWs and other patients at FQHCs. The results of this study were consistent with current literature available for MSFWs. By reaching this vulnerable working population, EHRs may be a key data source for occupational injury and illness surveillance and research. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Demography Emigration And Immigration Epidemiology Farmers Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Electronic Health Records Demographic Characteristics Electronic Health Records Farm Workers Farmworkers Meaningful Use Migrant Workers Occupational Health Seasonal Workers
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  71-81
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047271
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2016 Jan; 21(1):71-81
• Contact Point Address:
  Christina Socias DrPH, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio Regional Campus, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7976 San Antonio, Texas 78229-7976, USA
• Email:
  socias1@gmail.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Center at Tyler
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0b11a7c893899dac3a247d8ff4b7aeda9ea5520e6d297216fbf0045cf3d39b5c02440eb065fcfca95315794aaa406af715b1949123665827dd86ad4a6941a264
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202406/cdc_202406_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.05 MB ]