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Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among Irish farm operators
Osborne, Aoife Blake, Catherine Meredith, David Kinsella, Anne Phelan, James McNamara, John G. Cunningham, Caitriona
Osborne, Aoife
Blake, Catherine
Meredith, David
Kinsella, Anne
Phelan, James
McNamara, John G.
Cunningham, Caitriona
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Date
10/07/2012
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Osborne, A., Blake, C., Meredith, D., Kinsella, A., Phelan, J., McNamara, J. and Cunningham, C. (2013), Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among Irish farm operators. Am. J. Ind. Med., 56: 235–242. doi: 10.1002/ajim.22092
Abstract
Background- To establish prevalence, risk factors and impact of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among farmers in Ireland.
Methods- In summer 2009, a questionnaire was appended to the Teagasc (Irish Agricultural and Food Development Authority) National Farm Survey (n=1110) to obtain data on the prevalence, risk factors and impact of WMSDs amongst farm operators in Ireland. Data were collected by trained recorders and analyzed using chi-square tests, t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests and binary logistic regression.
Results- The prevalence of WMSDs in the previous year was 9.4% (n=103), with the most commonly affected body region being the low back 31% (n=32). Nearly 60% (n=57) of farmers reported missing at least a full day’s work as a consequence of their WMSD. Personal factors evaluated using bivariate regression analysis, were found not to influence whether or not a farmer experienced a WMSD. However, work-related factors such as larger European Size Units (ESUs) (OR=1.007, CI=1.002-1.012), greater number of hectares farmed (OR=2.50, CI=1.208-4.920), higher income (OR=1.859, CI=1.088-3.177), dairy enterprise (OR=1.734, CI=1.081-2.781), and working on a fulltime farm (OR=2.156, CI=1.399-3.321) increased the likelihood of experiencing a WMSD. The variable ‘fulltime farm’ which was associated with a higher labour unit requirement to operate the farm, was the only factor found to independently predict WMSDs in the multivariate regression analyses.
Conclusions- This study suggests that the prevalence of WMSDs can be reduced by the application of improved farm management practices. A more detailed examination of the risk factors associated with WMSDs is required to establish causality and hence, effective interventions.