L. Olson, L. Fullerton, C. Crandall and D. Sklar
NIOSH Education and Information Division
Objectives:
To describe the epidemiology of farming injury-related occupational
deaths in New Mexico.
Methods:
We reviewed all injury-related occupational deaths occurring
in New Mexico from 1980 to 1991 investigated by the New Mexico
Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI). Data obtained from
the OMI records included: ethnicity, age, gender, the presence
of alcohol and/or drugs, injury location (rural vs. urban),
agent of injury, and injury circumstances. The injury circumstances
provided sufficient information to determine the industry
in the majority of cases. Using a truncated data set, deaths
from farming were compared to deaths in the other industries
that accounted for the greatest number of deaths. In addition,
autopsies are under review for further information concerning
cause of death.
Data
were entered into DBase III+ and analyzed using Epi-lnfo 5
and StatGraphics. Statistical significance was determined
using regression and chi-squared analyses, and a p-value of
< .05 was considered significant.
Results:
There were 613 work-related deaths, of which 53 (8.6%) were
in the farming industry. There were six industries that comprised
over half of the total number of deaths (n=318; 51.8%): construction
(n=72; 11.8%), oil/gas (n=65; 10.6%), farming (n=53; 8.6%),
military (n=45; 7.3%), service (n=43; 7.0%), and public service
(n=40; 6.5%).
Farming
deaths were most common in summer (July to September; 34.0%
of deaths). This was also true for construction (34.7%) and
public service (35.0%). Farming deaths were least frequent
in autumn (October to December; 13.2%), increasing in winter
(January to March; 24.5%), spring (April to June; 28.3%),
and summer. The number of deaths in the farming industry increased
significantly with increasing age of the workers (p < .02).
Decedents in the farming industry were older than decedents
in other industries (p < .0001). Unlike other industries,
the greatest proportion of deaths in the farming industry
(30.2%) occurred among individuals 60+ years old.
There
were no differences in gender distribution among the six industries.
However, decedents varied significantly by race (p < .0001).
A greater proportion of decedents in the farming industry
were American Indian (15.1%) than in other industries, and
over one-third (37.7%) of farming decedents were Hispanic.
Among
the six industries represented, 13.6% of decedents tested
positively for alcohol and 3.9% tested positively for illicit
drugs. Industries with relatively high proportions of decedents
who tested positively for alcohol (p < .03) included farming
(20.0%) and service (24.3%). Thus, one in five decedents in
the farming industry had alcohol present in their blood at
the time of death.
The
proportion of deaths occurring in rural areas was higher in
the farming industry (86.8%) than any other industry except
oil/gas (90.8%; p < .0001). The primary agent of death in
the farming industry was "farm vehicle," the agent in one-third
(34.0%) of deaths. Farming deaths also involved electricity
(17.0%), falls (11.3%), animals (9.4%), other motor vehicles
(9.4%), and machinery (7.6%). Nearly half of farming deaths
(43.4%) involved some type of motor vehicle. Over one-fourth
of deaths involved crushing injuries.
Conclusions:
Work-related deaths in the farming industry account for a
high proportion of the work-related deaths in New Mexico.
Many of our findings are consistent with injury patterns nationwide
and in other states. In New Mexico, farming decedents are
primarily older males, involve disproportionate numbers of
American Indians and Hispanics, and occur almost exclusively
in rural areas. In particular, we are concerned with the finding
that one in five farmers had alcohol present in their blood
at the time of death. This points to the need for interdisciplinary
cooperation between substance abuse and injury prevention
experts to target farm workers for education about the risks
of alcohol use in the farming industry.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention
and Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State
University and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by
the Centers for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: All at the University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
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