Prevalence of asthma among youth on Hispanic-operated farms in the United States-2000.
The objective of this study was to estimate prevalence of asthma and asthma attacks among youth (0-19 years old) working and/or living on Hispanic-operated farms. The 2000 U.S. Minority Farm Operator Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey (M-CAIS) data were used to calculate prevalence of asthma, asthma attacks and serious asthma attacks among youth (0 to 19 years) living on Hispanic-operated farms. Age-specific asthma prevalence rates with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for working and nonworking youth. In 2000, an estimated 17,573 youth lived on Hispanic-operated farms; 7.4% had asthma ever diagnosed, 8.1% had an asthma attack while at work in the last year, and 1.4% had a serious asthma attack. Asthma prevalence was highest among youth aged 16-19 (9.1%), males (8.6%), and those driving tractors (9.7%). Serious asthma attacks that required an emergency room visit or hospitalization in the last year were most prevalent among youth aged 0-9 years (1.8%), males (1.7%), and those riding horses (1.7%). Compared with nonworking youth, prevalence of asthma (8.9% versus 6.1%;p< .05) and serious asthma attacks (1.6% versus 1.3%;p> .05) was higher among working youth. Prevalence of asthma attacks in the last year while at work was also significantly higher among males than females (8.6% versus 6.0%;p< .05) and among youth living on livestock farms than among youth on crop farms (9.4% versus 7.4%;p< .05). These findings contribute to the limited information on asthma among youth working on Hispanic-operated farms, and indicate the need for asthma prevention programs on farms and intervention studies targeting farming youth populations.
Syamlal
Girija
G
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, Morganton, West Virginia, USA. gos2@cdc.gov
Mazurek
Jacek M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D000383:Agriculture; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D016272:Occupational Health; D015541:Off-Road Motor Vehicles; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult