Risk of Depression in a Cohort of Older Working Californian Farmers 2004

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adeyemo MA ; Mitchell DC ; Schenker MB
• Description:
  Background: Male agricultural workers have been reported to have the highest level of depression of all occupational groups. Objective: To assess the risk of depression in older working Californian farmers. Methods: The UC Davis Farmer Health Study cohort were asked an 8-item measure to predict depression as part of the 2004 survey. Of the 866 participants, the 623 still actively working were included in this cross-sectional study. Associations between likely depression and environmental or occupational exposures were assessed using SAS 9.1 programming. Univariate associations with depression were assessed using t-tests for continuous variables, and Chi-square tests for categorical. Multivariate associations were assessed using multiple logistic regression. Results: 4.65% (29 of 623) working farmers, mean age 62.3 years (11.6sd), were at risk for depression. In a multivariate logistic regression model, adjusting for age and gender, depression was significantly associated with all of the following: water damage to the home [OR, 3.91(95% CI 1.40 - 10.89)], hand harvesting [OR, 2.63(1.11 - 6.22)], and BMI [OR, 1.13(1.04 - 1.22)]. Work ability [OR, 0.72(0,59 - 0.88)] and tractor driving [OR, 0.224(0.09 - 0.57)] were protective. Conclusion: The rate of depression in older working farmers of 4.65% closely mirrors the rate of depression in all older Americans of 5.71% according to the NIMH. Risk of depression in older working farmers is associated with both farm tasks and personal characteristics. Longitudinal studies are needed to tease out what factors lead to depression and which are a result of being depressed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Agriculture Cohort Studies Farmers Mental Health Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Industry Agricultural Safety Cohort Studies Farm Workers Psychological Effects Risk Factors
• Publisher:
  Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059764
• Citation:
  Health & safety in Western agriculture: research to practice, September 20-22, 2006, Pacific Grove, California. Davis, CA: Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, 2006 Sep; :7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Health & safety in Western agriculture: research to practice, September 20-22, 2006, Pacific Grove, California
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:99be0ce30c4306feb35cdd876c873627a09c178cd56ba983d1f5d60adca98476fc58e0d0298da49546e614cd078b9f6faff5ba4f616e2673707b504b15dec613
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223861/cdc_223861_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 260.68 KB ]