Risk Factors for Low Back Injury Among Farmers in Iowa: A Case-Control Study Nested in the Agricultural Health Study

The aim of this study was to assess risk factors for low back injury requiring medical advice or treatment among Iowa farmers. Although farmers are at risk for low back injury, few studies have addressed risk factors for farm work-related low back injury. We screened 6999 participants in the Iowa po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene 2007-01, Vol.4 (1), p.10-16
Main Authors: Sprince, Nancy, Park, Hyesook, Zwerling, Craig, Whitten, Paul, Lynch, Charles, Burmeister, Leon, Thu, Kendall, Gillette, Patricia, Alavanja, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
agricultural work
Agricultural Workers' Diseases - epidemiology
Agriculture - statistics & numerical data
Asthma
Asthma - epidemiology
Back Injuries - epidemiology
Educational Status
farmer
Farmers
Hearing loss
Hearing Loss - epidemiology
Humans
Iowa - epidemiology
low back injury
Lumbosacral Region - injuries
Male
Middle Aged
Occupational accidents
Occupational health
Risk Factors
Studies
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Summary:The aim of this study was to assess risk factors for low back injury requiring medical advice or treatment among Iowa farmers. Although farmers are at risk for low back injury, few studies have addressed risk factors for farm work-related low back injury. We screened 6999 participants in the Iowa portion of the Agricultural Health Study to identify 49 male farmers who reported farm work-related low back injury requiring medical advice or treatment in the previous year. We compared them with 465 uninjured male farmer controls. Multivariable modeling identified four risk factors significantly associated with low back injury: age less than 45 years (OR = 3.32; 95% CI 1.75-6.20), doctor-diagnosed asthma (OR = 4.26; 95% CI 1.49-12.10), education beyond high school (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.13-3.90), and difficulty hearing normal conversation (even with a hearing aid, in the case of those using one) (OR = 1.98; 95% CI 1.02-3.80). Although hearing difficulty may be a general risk factor for occupational injury, asthma may be a more specific risk factor for low back injury. Future research to assess the risk factors, asthma and difficulty hearing, may be particularly important, since farmers are at increased risk for hearing loss, and farmers come into contact with many inhaled agents that can cause asthma.
ISSN:1545-9624
1545-9632
DOI:10.1080/15459620601067266