OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AMONG COMMERCIAL FISHERS

商业捕鱼是最危险的职业之一，致命和非致命伤害的发生率都很高。然而，很少有研究对美国商业渔民的流行病学和伤害预防进行调查。我们提出了一项关于商业渔民职业伤害的前瞻性队列研究，目的如下：1)测量非致命性职业创伤和肌肉骨骼疾病的发生率；2)描述职业创伤和肌肉骨骼疾病的类型和严重程度；3)运用定性和定量方法描述和描述工作过程、设备和工作条件；4)确定职业伤害与工作具体方面的关系，包括捕鱼类型、船只大小、设备和环境条件；5)确定可以修改的风险因素，以降低伤害的风险或严重程度。这项研究将通过对北卡罗来纳州东部一群商业渔民进行为期两年的密集随访来进行。该队列将通过入组时和之后每六个月进行一次临床评估来详细描述其特征，并将通过在捕鱼季节每周进行的电话访谈来前瞻性地确定意外伤害。这种后续策略将产生高质量的数据，可以准确确定由于地理分散和工作时间表不规律而通常难以研究的人群的伤害发生情况。统计分析将使用最先进的方法来重复测量数据。除了为未经研究的高风险人群提供高质量数据外，该项目还将采用定性和定量方法的创新结合。我们将使用人种学技术进行实地研究，以了解捕鱼的工作过程，并为定量分析添加背景。将查明可能的干预措施，并向渔业人口中的关键线人介绍。该提案直接针对NIOSH NORA的三个优先领域：创伤性损伤、腰背疾病和上肢肌肉骨骼疾病，并与特殊人群的研究相关，这是NORA的另一个优先领域。

Commercial fishing is among the most hazardous occupations, with high rates of both fatal and nonfatal injury. Nevertheless, few studies have been conducted to examine the epidemiology and prevention of injuries among commercial fishers in the United States. We propose a prospective cohort study of occupational injuries among commercial fishers, with the following aims: 1) To measure the incidence of nonfatal occupational traumatic injuries and musculoskeletal disorders; 2) To characterize the types and severity of occupational traumatic injuries and musculoskeletal disorders; 3) To describe and characterize the work processes, equipment, and working conditions, using qualitative, as well as quantitative methods; 4) To determine the association of occupational injuries with specific aspects of the job, including the type of fishing, size of vessel, equipment, and environmental conditions, and 5) To identify risk factors that could be modified to reduce the risk or severity of injury. The study will be carried out via intensive, two-year prospective follow-up of a cohort of commercial fishers in Eastern North Carolina. The cohort will be characterized in detail by clinical evaluations conducted at entry and every six months thereafter, and incident injuries will be ascertained prospectively by telephone interviews conducted weekly during the fishing season. This follow-up strategy will yield high quality data, allowing accurate ascertainment of injury occurrence in a population that is ordinarily hard to study because of their geographic dispersal and irregular work schedules. The statistical analysis will use state-of-the-art methods for repeated measures data. In addition to providing high-quality data an unstudied, high-risk population, this project will employ an innovative blend of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. We will conduct a field study using ethnographic techniques to understand the work processes of fishing and add context to the quantitative analysis. Potential interventions will be identified and presented to key informants in the fishing population. This proposal directly addresses three NIOSH NORA priority areas: traumatic injury, low back disorders, and musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities and is pertinent to a research with special populations, another NORA priority.