Comparability of data obtained from migrant farmworkers and their spouses on occupational history

Occupational exposures and chronic kidney disease: Possible associations with endotoxin and ultrafine particles

BACKGROUND

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) carries a high public health burden yet there is limited research on occupational factors, which are examined in this retrospective case-control study.

METHODS

Newly diagnosed cases of CKD (n = 547) and controls (n = 508) from North Carolina provided detailed work histories in telephone interviews. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

There was heterogeneity in the association of CKD and agricultural work, with crop production associated with increased risk and work with livestock associated with decreased risk. Work with cutting/cooling/lubricating oils was associated with a reduced risk. CKD risk was increased for working in dusty conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

CKD risk was reduced in subjects with occupational exposures previously reported to involve endotoxin exposure. Further, exposure to dusty conditions was consistently associated with increased risk of glomerulonephritis across industry, suggesting that research on CKD and ultrafine particulates is needed.

Lifetime and current pesticide exposure among Latino farmworkers in comparison to other Latino immigrants

BACKGROUND

Pesticide exposure poses a health risk for farmworkers. This analysis documents lifetime and current pesticide exposure of North Carolina Latino migrant farmworkers, with comparison to non-farmworker Latino immigrants.

METHODS

During May to October 2012, 235 Latino farmworkers and 212 Latino non-farmworkers completed interviews with items to construct measures of lifetime, current residential and occupational pesticide exposure.

RESULTS

Farmworkers experience levels of lifetime and residential pesticide exposure that are consistently greater than among non-farmworkers. Farmworkers report a large number of occupational pesticide exposures. Lifetime exposure and current residential pesticide exposure are related to social determinants. Education is inversely related to lifetime pesticide exposure for farmworkers and non-farmworkers; farmworkers with H-2A visas report greater residential pesticide exposure than those without H-2A visas.

CONCLUSIONS

Occupational safety policy needs to consider these patterns of lifetime exposure when setting standards. Health care providers should be aware of the lifetime and current exposure of this vulnerable population.

Completeness and utility of interview data from proxy respondents in prenatal care research in rural China

In household surveys, the use of data provided by relatives can increase response rates and generalisability of research findings. This study assessed the quality of data from relatives and the impact of the data source on the association between the use of prenatal care and pregnancy outcomes. Data for 3,673 new mothers and 293 proxy respondents were available from a house-hold survey in 2008-2009 in rural China. Analyses were performed using chi-square test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, and logistic regression models. Differences in the studied variables were small, but proxy respondents were slightly more likely to have missing data than the new mothers. Differences and missing data were more common for the use of prenatal care and outcome variables (mode of delivery, place of delivery, birth weight, use of postnatal care, and gestational age at birth) than for the background characteristics of the participants. Husbands' reports were closer to the index reports than that of the other proxies. The associations between the exposures and outcomes were mostly similar between the proxy and index respondents. Relatives can be interviewed instead of women to study prenatal care without a substantial negative impact on study results. Studies using proxy respondents should stratify the analysis by type of respondents.

An assessment of the validity of reporting by proxy to women's health questionnaire: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE

The quality of proxy reports provided by husbands regarding women's health, when the index case (the wife) cannot be interviewed, is controversial.

STUDY DESIGN

Fourteen husbands and wives at menopause were interviewed separately using the same pre-constructed questionnaire. The extent of agreement between their reports was assessed.

RESULTS

Higher agreement was noted for questions regarding physiognomy, number of live children, age at menopause and general health problems. Lesser agreement was observed regarding obstetric history.

CONCLUSIONS

In light of these preliminary observations, the use of husbands as proxy for women's health questionnaire at midlife should be carefully considered and may be limited to questions regarding general health issues rather than reproductive health.

Applications of calendar instruments in social surveys: a review

Retrospective reports in survey interviews and questionnaires are subject to many types of recall error, which affect completeness, consistency, and dating accuracy. Concerns about this problem have led to the development of so-called calendar instruments, or timeline techniques. These aided recall procedures have been designed to help respondents gain better access to long-term memory by providing a graphical time frame in which life history information can be represented. In order to obtain more insights into the potential benefits of calendar methodology, this paper presents a review of the application of calendar instruments, their design characteristics and effects on data quality. Calendar techniques are currently used in a variety of fields, including life course research, epidemiology and family planning studies. Despite the growing interest in these new methods, their application often lacks sufficient theoretical foundation and little attention has been paid to their effectiveness. Several recent studies however, have demonstrated that in comparison to more traditional survey methods, calendar techniques can improve some aspects of data quality. While calendar instruments have been shown to be potentially beneficial to retrospective data quality, there is an apparent need for methodological research that generates more systematic knowledge about their application in social surveys.

National farmworker database: establishing a farmworker cohort for epidemiologic research

BACKGROUND

There is little research into the long-term health effects of pesticides and other agricultural exposures among seasonal and migrant farmworkers in the United States. We present results of a feasibility study that established a cohort of farmworkers for use in epidemiologic research.

METHODS

Subjects consisted of migrant and seasonal farmworkers who joined the cohort while seeking social services through members of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) and were entered in the National Farmworker Database (NFD) between the end of 1997 and March 1999. We designed an add-on interview with information that enhanced the utility of the database for epidemiologic research.

RESULTS

We recruited and obtained basic demographic and employment information on 5,597 farmworkers at very modest cost and effort. Subjects were mostly seasonal (61.5%), female (56.7%), and Hispanic (67.4%), with a median age of 27. Most (62.6%) had not completed high school; almost all (99.1%) reported being U.S. citizens or permanent residents, an eligibility requirement for some of the services provided by AFOP. The majority (62.5%) had engaged in farmwork for less than 10 years, but had performed a wide variety of tasks on different crops, including row crops and tree fruits. Picking was the most common task reported. Most subjects had performed farmwork in Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Michigan, or Georgia. For usual source of health care, 63.7% reported use of U.S. hospitals or emergency rooms/clinics, 42.0% U.S. private physicians, and 29.7% migrant health clinics. Among subjects reporting a prior diagnosis of cancer, primary sources of health care for treatment of that cancer included U.S. private physicians (61.9%), U.S. hospitals or emergency rooms/clinics (23.8%), and migrant health clinics (10.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that by adding a brief interview to the existing NFD data collection process, which was designed for other purposes, it is feasible to create an efficient tool for conducting longitudinal epidemiologic research among farmworkers.