Citation

Lewis MQ, Sprince NL, Burmeister LF, Whitten PS, Torner JC, Zwerling CS. Am. J. Ind. Med. 1998; 33(5): 510-517.

Affiliation

Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9557175

Abstract

In 1994, the Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project carried out a two-stage, stratified, cluster survey of Iowa farms using a mail survey. With data from this representative sample of Iowa farmers, we examined the associations between farm-work-related injuries and possible risk factors for 390 principal farm operators. Forty (10.3%) of these operators reported being injured while doing farm work. We developed a logistic regression to assess associations between potential risk factors and injury. We found three factors significantly associated with injury: younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1, confidence interval [CI] = 1.1-9.3), having an impairment or health problem that limits work (OR = 2.4, CI = 1.5-3.8), and hand or arm exposure to acids or alkalis (OR = 2.6, CI = 1.1-5.9). In the univariate analysis, safety training did not seem to protect farmers from injuries.