A cohort study of injuries in migrant farm worker families in South Texas.
OBJECTIVE
This cohort study estimated the frequency of and risk factors for work injuries among migrant farmworker families over a two-year period.


METHODS
The cohort consisted of 267 families. Bilingual interviewers asked mothers to respond for their family soliciting demographic, psychosocial, employment, and work-related injury information. Cox regression was used to examine risk factors for first injury events.


RESULTS
Of the 267 families, nearly 60% migrated and 96% of these completed the follow-up interviews. These families represented about 310 individuals each year who had participated in farmwork on average 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, for 2.7 months in the past year. Twenty-five work-related injuries were reported with an overall rate of 12.5/100 FTE (95% C.I., 8.6-19.0). Working for a contractor increased the hazard ratio, and use of car seat belts and working for more than one employer during the season decreased it.


CONCLUSIONS
If person-time at risk for injuries is taken into account the reported injuries are substantial. Because the injuries were quite diverse, specific interventions may have to focus on improved working conditions (physical and economic), ergonomic modifications, and enhanced enforcement of existing regulations.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A and M School of Rural Public Health, Bryan, TX 77802, USA. spcooper@srph.tamhsc.edu
Sharon P
SP
Cooper
Keith E
KE
Burau
Ralph
R
Frankowski
Eva M
EM
Shipp
Deborah J
DJ
Del Junco
Ryan E
RE
Whitworth
Anne M
AM
Sweeney
Nancy
N
Macnaughton
Nancy F
NF
Weller
Craig L
CL
Hanis
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000383:Agriculture; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005190:Family; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*