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Musculoskeletal pain among Midwest farmers and associations with agricultural activities
Author(s) -
Fethke Nathan B.,
Merlino Linda A.,
Gerr Fredric,
Schall Mark C.,
Branch Cassidy A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22398
Subject(s) - medicine , physical therapy , wrist , wrist pain , musculoskeletal pain , elbow pain , neck pain , elbow , musculoskeletal disorder , low back pain , physical medicine and rehabilitation , surgery , human factors and ergonomics , environmental health , alternative medicine , poison control , pathology
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. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:319–330, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.