Work-related injury among south Texas middle school students: prevalence and patterns.
BACKGROUND
Work experiences among early adolescents are largely undocumented. Our purpose was to document the prevalence of work and work-related injury among lower-income Hispanic South Texas middle school students.


METHODS
Anonymous surveys were conducted in classrooms of sixth- through eighth-grade students, and 3,008 students reported current or recent employment.


RESULTS
The prevalence of work was 56%; mean weekly work hours were 7.7. Increasing weekly work hours were significantly related to work injury (11-20 hours, odds ratio [OR], 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.9; 21+ hours, OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.8-3.2, compared with 1-10 hours). The odds of injury were highest for agriculture (OR, 4.4; 95% CI, 3.3-6.0), followed by restaurant (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 2.7-5.4), construction (OR, 3.6; 95% CI, 2.4-5.2), and yard work (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.4-2.2).


CONCLUSIONS
Working more than 20 hours weekly increased the likelihood of injury among middle school students. Parents and professionals should monitor weekly school-year work hours.
Weller
Nancy F
NF
Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, School of Public Health, Mental Sciences Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. nweller@bcm.tmc.edu
Cooper
Sharon P
SP
Tortolero
Susan R
SR
Kelder
Steven H
SH
Hassan
Sohela
S
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*