BACKGROUND: Although agricultural workers experience a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, associations between specific agricultural activities and musculoskeletal pain are not well characterized. METHODS: Among 518 regional farmers, responses to a mailed questionnaire were used to estimate (i) the 2-week prevalence of low back, neck/shoulder, and elbow/wrist/hand pain, and (ii) associations between the average hours per week performing common agricultural activities and musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: The low back was the most common location of musculoskeletal pain (33.2%), followed by the neck/shoulder (30.8%) and elbow/wrist/hand (21.6%). Statistically significant adjusted associations were observed between performing equipment repair and maintenance and low back pain; milking animals and neck/shoulder pain; and manual material handling and elbow/wrist/hand pain, among others. CONCLUSIONS: The observed prevalence estimates are consistent with previous literature, and the associations between agricultural activities and musculoskeletal pain provide an initial basis for targeted intervention research.
BACKGROUND: Although agricultural workers experience a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, associations between specific agricultural activities and musculoskeletal pain are not well characterized. METHODS: Among 518 regional farmers, responses to a mailed questionnaire were used to estimate (i) the 2-week prevalence of low back, neck/shoulder, and elbow/wrist/hand pain, and (ii) associations between the average hours per week performing common agricultural activities and musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: The low back was the most common location of musculoskeletal pain (33.2%), followed by the neck/shoulder (30.8%) and elbow/wrist/hand (21.6%). Statistically significant adjusted associations were observed between performing equipment repair and maintenance and low back pain; milking animals and neck/shoulder pain; and manual material handling and elbow/wrist/hand pain, among others. CONCLUSIONS: The observed prevalence estimates are consistent with previous literature, and the associations between agricultural activities and musculoskeletal pain provide an initial basis for targeted intervention research.
Authors: Nathan B Fethke; Mark C Schall; Linda A Merlino; Howard Chen; Cassidy A Branch; Maya Ramaswamy Journal: Ann Work Expo Health Date: 2018-11-12 Impact factor: 2.179
Authors: David I Douphrate; Nathan B Fethke; Matthew W Nonnenmann; Anabel Rodriguez; Robert Hagevoort; David Gimeno Ruiz de Porras Journal: Ergonomics Date: 2016-12-23 Impact factor: 2.778
Authors: Nathan B Fethke; Mark C Schall; Howard Chen; Cassidy A Branch; Linda A Merlino Journal: J Occup Environ Hyg Date: 2020-02-18 Impact factor: 2.155
Authors: S Goswami; S Dasgupta; A Samanta; G Talukdar; A Chanda; P Ray Karmakar; A Majumdar; D Bhattacharya; A Chakrabarti Journal: Pain Res Treat Date: 2016-08-02
Authors: Eduardo Velasco-Mondragon; Angela Jimenez; Anna G Palladino-Davis; Dawn Davis; Jose A Escamilla-Cejudo Journal: Public Health Rev Date: 2016-12-07