A CROSS-SECTIONAL CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF WORK-RELATED INJURIES AMONG OHIO FARMERS

The agricultural industry has consistently been ranked among the most hazardous in the U.S. To date, few analytic studies of occupational in jury among farm operators and workers have been conducted. A case cont rol study was undertaken to investigate risk factors for agricultural work-related injury among Ohio farm operators. Cases were selected fro m among 1,793 respondents to a questionnaire administered during the f irst phase of the NIOSH-sponsored Ohio Fat-in Family Health and Hazard Study (OFFHHS). Analysis consisted of description of the injury exper ience of the sample as a whole, followed by logistic estimation of pre valence odds ratios (pORs) measuring the effect of potential risk fact ors on injury risk The case series consisted of 90 white male principa l operators (POs) injured doing farm work in the 12 months prior to qu estionnaire completion. Controls consisted of 1,475 white male POs who reported no injuries. The overall rate of injury was 5 per 100 person -years. The most notable result is the relationship between self-repor ted neurotoxic symptoms and injury suggesting those with more reported symptoms were at greater risk of injury. The crude OR, when compared to the reference score of less than or equal to 27 increased from 1.74 (95% CI = 0.60-5.09) in The 28-30 category to 1.89 (95% CI = 0.71-5.0 3) in the 31-35 category, to 2.96 (95% CI = 1.10-7.96) in the highest category of test score. The P value for trend was 0.0218. These associ ations largely persisted after controlling for potential confounders w ith multiple logistic regression. Risk was inversely related to age. T he results show marked increases in risk of injury associated with far mers younger than 30 and increased severity of self-reported neurologi cal symptoms, controlling for potential confounding. (C) 1998 Wiley-Li ss, Inc.