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Holloway-Kew KL, Baker TR, Sajjad MA, Yosef T, Kotowicz MA, Adams J, Brumby S, Page RS, Sutherland AG, Kavanagh BE, Brennan-Olsen SL, Williams LJ, Pasco JA. Emergency presentations for farm-related injuries in older adults residing in south-western Victoria, Australia. Aust J Rural Health 2024; 32:498-509. [PMID: 38506552 DOI: 10.1111/ajr.13110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Farm workers are at high risk for injuries, and epidemiological data are needed to plan resource allocation. OBJECTIVE This study identified regions with high farm-related injury rates in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, for residents aged ≥50 yr. DESIGN Retrospective synthesis using electronic medical records of emergency presentations occurring during 2017-2019 inclusive for Local Government Areas (LGA) in the study region. For each LGA, age-standardised incidence rates (per 1000 population/year) were calculated. FINDINGS For men and women combined, there were 31 218 emergency presentations for any injury, and 1150 (3.68%) of these were farm-related. The overall age-standardised rate for farm-related injury presentations was 2.6 (95% CI 2.4-2.7); men had a higher rate than women (4.1, 95% CI 3.9-4.4 versus 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.3, respectively). For individual LGAs, the highest rates of farm-related emergency presentations occurred in Moyne and Southern Grampians, both rural LGAs. Approximately two-thirds of farm-related injuries occurred during work activities (65.0%), and most individuals arrived at the hospital by transport classified as "other" (including private car, 83.3%). There were also several common injury causes identified: "other animal related injury" (20.2%), "cutting, piercing object" (19.5%), "fall ⟨1 m" (13.1%), and "struck by or collision with object" (12.5%). Few injuries were caused by machinery (1.7%) and these occurred mainly in the LGA of Moyne (65%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION This study provides data to inform future research and resource allocation for the prevention of farm-related injuries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara L Holloway-Kew
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
| | - Timothy R Baker
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
| | - Muhammad A Sajjad
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tewodros Yosef
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia
| | - Mark A Kotowicz
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Medicine - Western Health, The University of Melbourne, St Albans, Victoria, Australia
- University Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jessie Adams
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- National Centre for Farmer Health, Western District Health Service, Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Susan Brumby
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- National Centre for Farmer Health, Western District Health Service, Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Richard S Page
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- University Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- Barwon Centre for Orthopaedic Research and Education, Barwon Health and St John of God Hospital Geelong, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alasdair G Sutherland
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- South West Healthcare, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
| | - Bianca E Kavanagh
- Deakin Rural Health, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sharon L Brennan-Olsen
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
| | - Lana J Williams
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
| | - Julie A Pasco
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Medicine - Western Health, The University of Melbourne, St Albans, Victoria, Australia
- University Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Oesterlund AH, Lander F, Rytter S, Lauritsen J. Selection bias in follow-up interviews with individuals attending the emergency department for occupational injuries. Inj Prev 2016; 23:152-157. [PMID: 27597401 DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2016] [Revised: 08/03/2016] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine whether supplementary interview participation was comparable for occupationally injured patients attending two hospital emergency departments and to investigate the magnitude of selection bias in relation to sex, age, severity, job tasks and industry risk level. METHODS Workers aged 18-70 years who contacted the two emergency departments for an acute occupational injury in 2013 were eligible and given a short questionnaire. Following written consent, a semi-structured interview concerning health and transient risk factors was conducted by telephone. The two departments were compared for study recruitment by age and sex. Respondents and non-respondents to the interview were compared for age, sex, injury severity, job tasks and industry risk level. RESULTS Of 4002 patients attending the two hospitals, 1693 (42%) participated in the interview. One hospital had a markedly higher response rate to the questionnaire, but the proportions of participation in the interview were similar in the two hospitals. Patients aged <30 years were over-represented among non-respondents whereas sex, injury severity, job task and industry risk level were not significantly different between respondents and non-respondents. CONCLUSIONS Despite a relatively low interview participation rate among injured individuals attending the emergency department, selection bias was limited. This indicates that results regarding injury risk patterns may be more widely generalisable when examining the causality of occupational injuries. However, the study also showed that young injured workers were less likely to participate in follow-up interviews, which is an important factor when interpreting age-related risk of injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna H Oesterlund
- Accident Analysis Group, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Flemming Lander
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Søren Rytter
- Department of Orthopedics, University Clinic for Hand, Hip and Knee Surgery, Regional Hospital West Jutland, Holstebro, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Jens Lauritsen
- Accident Analysis Group, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
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Schmertmann M, Williamson A, Black D, Wilson L. Risk factors for unintentional poisoning in children aged 1-3 years in NSW Australia: a case-control study. BMC Pediatr 2013; 13:88. [PMID: 23705679 PMCID: PMC3682908 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2431-13-88] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2012] [Accepted: 05/01/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Unintentional poisoning in young children is an important public health issue. Age pattern studies have demonstrated that children aged 1-3 years have the highest levels of poisoning risk among children aged 0-4 years, yet little research has been conducted regarding risk factors specific to this three-year age group and the methodologies employed varied greatly. The purpose of the current study is to investigate a broad range of potential risk factors for unintentional poisoning in children aged 1-3 years using appropriate methodologies. METHODS Four groups of children, one case group (children who had experienced a poisoning event) and three control groups (children who had been 'injured', 'sick' or who were 'healthy'), and their mothers (mother-child dyads) were enrolled into a case-control study. All mother-child dyads participated in a 1.5-hour child developmental screening and observation, with mothers responding to a series of questionnaires at home. Data were analysed as three case-control pairs with multivariate analyses used to control for age and sex differences between child cases and controls. RESULTS Five risk factors were included in the final multivariate models for one or more case-control pairs. All three models found that children whose mothers used more positive control in their interactions during a structured task had higher odds of poisoning. Two models showed that maternal psychiatric distress increased poisoning risk (poisoning-injury and poisoning-healthy). Individual models identified the following variables as risk factors: less proximal maternal supervision during risk taking activities (poisoning-injury), medicinal substances stored in more accessible locations in bathrooms (poisoning-sick) and lower total parenting stress (poisoning-healthy). CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study indicate that the nature of the caregiver-child relationship and caregiver attributes play an important role in influencing poisoning risk. Further research is warranted to explore the link between caregiver-child relationships and unintentional poisoning risk. Caregiver education should focus on the benefits of close interaction with their child as a prevention measure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcia Schmertmann
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Ann Williamson
- Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Deborah Black
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Leigh Wilson
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Day L, Lenné MG, Symmons M, Hillard P, Newstead S, Allen T, McClure R. Population based case-control study of serious non-fatal motorcycle crashes. BMC Public Health 2013; 13:72. [PMID: 23351603 PMCID: PMC3599456 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-72] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2013] [Accepted: 01/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Motorcycle sales, registration and use are increasing in many countries. The epidemiological literature on risk factors for motorcycle injury is becoming outdated, due to changes in rider demography, licensing regulations, traffic mix and density, road environments, and motorcycle designs and technologies. Further, the potential contribution of road infrastructure and travel speed has not yet been examined. Methods/design A population based case–control study together with a nested case-crossover study is planned. Cases will be motorcycle riders who are injured but not killed in a motorcycle crash on a public road within 150 km radius of Melbourne, Australia, and admitted to one of the study hospitals. Controls will be motorcycle riders who ride through the crash site on the same type of day (weekday or weekend) within an hour of the crash time. Data on rider, bike, and trip characteristics will be collected from the participants by questionnaire. Data on crash site characteristics will be collected in a structured site inspection, and travel speed for the cases will be estimated from these data. Travel speed for the controls will be measured prior to recruitment with a radar traffic detection device as they ride through the crash site. Control sites for the case-crossover study will be selected 1 km upstream from the crash site and matched on either intersection status or road curvature (either straight or cornered). If the initial site selected does not match the case site on these characteristics, then the closest matching site on the case route will be selected. Conditional multivariate logistic regression models will be used to compare risk between the matched case and control riders and to examine associations between road infrastructure and road environment characteristics and crash occurrence. Interactions between type of site and speed will be tested to determine if site type is an effect modifier of the relationship between speed and crash risk. The relationship between rider factors and travel speed generally will be assessed by multivariate regression methods. Discussion In the context of the changing motorcycling environment, this study will provide evidence on contemporary risk factors for serious non-fatal motorcycle crashes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lesley Day
- MUARC, Monash Injury Research Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
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Horsburgh S, Langley JD. Recruitment and retention of farm owners and workers for a six-month prospective injury study in New Zealand: a feasibility study. J Occup Med Toxicol 2011; 6:16. [PMID: 21612610 PMCID: PMC3117830 DOI: 10.1186/1745-6673-6-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2011] [Accepted: 05/25/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Agricultural workers experience high rates of occupational injury. There is a lack of analytic studies which provide detailed occupational exposure information to inform intervention development. Methods A feasibility study simulating a six month prospective cohort study was designed and undertaken. The levels of farm and worker participation and retention were analysed to determine the feasibility of the methods for wider deployment. Results Recruitment levels were comparable with other studies, with 24% of farms and 36% of non-owner workers participating. Once recruited, retention was high at 85% and 86% respectively. Conclusions The main challenges identified were in the recruitment process. Once recruited, farms and workers tended to complete the study, indicating that prospective studies in this the agricultural workforce may be feasible. Issues encountered and potential solutions for future studies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Horsburgh
- Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
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