Consequences of Agricultural Injuries

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Agricultural operations are unique in that the occupational and the residential environments overlap; thus, both children and adults are exposed to occupational risks. We propose to identify the short and long-term physical, psychosocial, and economic consequences of injuries that occur among children and youths living in agricultural operation households to determine the impact of this problem, not only on the individual and family, but also on the overall agricultural operation. This research, building on previous efforts by the investigators, will involve a cohort of agricultural operations in the five-state region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. These states are representative of the major types of agricultural production in the United States, and are among the leading producers of crops and livestock in the nation. From a randomly selected sample of 16,000 agricultural operations, generated from the lists of operations in these states, maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, the proposed study will result in a final eligible cohort of approximately 4,000 agricultural operations (-16,000 persons total; ~8,000 persons aged 0-19). For all household members, including children/youth 0-19 years of age, baseline and follow-up data will be collected on health-related quality of life, including physical and mental health, disability due to agricultural injuries and other injury causes, and economic status. The injury experience (taking both agriculture and non-agriculture-related injuries into account) and concomitant short-term consequences will be determined prospectively for two six-month periods. In addition to description of injury incidence and associated characteristics, analyses will focus on identification of longer term (2.5 years) injury consequences, by examining potential changes between baseline and follow-up data, through a comparison between households with persons 0-19 years of age who incurred agriculture-related injuries and those that did not; relevant data will also be collected on adults to estimate and analyze rates and to control for potential confounding. The study will utilize a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) system with specially designed baseline and follow-up instruments, drawing on successful methods from the 1999 and 2001 Regional Rural Injury Study-ll, to provide sound scientific data. Results of this unique proposal will address a serious deficiency in current knowledge about the magnitude and scope of consequences of child agricultural injuries, controlling for other important factors. The efficient method, integral to this study, for identifying consequences of total injury burden to agricultural operations, has not been previously undertaken.