A Prospective Study of Musculoskeletal Symptoms Among Agricultural Workers in the Midwest Region of the United States

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen H ; Fethke N ; Gerr F ; Merlino L ; Schall M
• Description:
  Objectives: We are currently conducting a prospective epidemiological study to 1) examine seasonal trends of low back, neck/shoulder, and hand/arm musculoskeletal symptoms, 2) characterize exposures to physical risk factors for low back, neck/shoulder, and hand/arm musculoskeletal symptoms, and 3) estimate associations between physical risk factors and low back, neck/shoulder, and hand/arm musculoskeletal symptoms among a large sample of agricultural workers in nine Midwest states. The proposed oral presentation will address our study design and data collection instruments, the characteristics of our study sample, and highlight baseline associations between agricultural activities and musculoskeletal symptoms. Methods: Study participants include a cohort of 518 agricultural workers distributed throughout the Midwestern United States. Every six months, all participants complete a set of self-administered questionnaires that collect information about musculoskeletal health outcomes, the average number of weekly hours engaged in common agricultural activities, and other variables that may confound estimates of the association between the number of hours engaged in common agricultural activities and musculoskeletal health outcomes (e.g., occupational psychosocial stress). For a subset of participants, our research team obtains on-farm measurements of exposure to physical risk factors during common agricultural activities using direct measurement technologies. Results: At this time, we have completed baseline analyses of questionnaire responses from a cohort of 518 agricultural workers. The majority of participants are male (94%), are reporting owning the farm on which they worked (80%), and reported farming as their primary occupation (70%). Grain products were the most common commodity produced (67.8%), followed by beef cattle (25.7%) and field crops (24.5%). At baseline, the 2-week prevalence of low back pain was 33.2%, of neck/shoulder pain was 30.8%, and of elbow/wrist/hand pain was 21.6%. Crude associations between several agricultural activities and musculoskeletal symptoms persisted after controlling for confounding in multivarible logisitic regression models. Conclusion: We observed a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among a cohort of regional agricultural workers and associations with agricultural activities. We expect our ongoing exposure assessment efforts to provide information about the fundamental biomechanical aspects of farm work that will be useful for the development of future prevention/intervention research projects. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Agriculture Farmers Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Agricultural Workers Back Pain Exposure Assessment Farm Workers Gender Factors MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Neck Injuries Risk Factors Sex Factors Upper Extremities

  More +
• Publisher:
  Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• 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:
  38
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052639
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium: Safety & Health in Agricultural & Rural Populations: Global Perspectives (SHARP), October 19-22, 2014, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. Saskatoon, SK, Canada: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, 2014 Oct; :38
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa, Iowa City
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium: Safety & Health in Agricultural & Rural Populations: Global Perspectives (SHARP), October 19-22, 2014, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:af9821fbde2ca0d635b5dcb2c668b82aa04cb5d109aaad1223a861a62944731cf5cd3af7868fe3031540fbdfc3da999c16e071acaec961e7ca96c690c6a0c056
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212141/cdc_212141_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 247.53 KB ]