[Prevalence and related factors of injury caused by agricultural machinery in the 3 provinces Shandong, Henan and Hebei of China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalent characteristics and related factors of injuries caused by agricultural machinery in 3 provinces Shandong, Henan and Hebei in China. METHODS: A total of 1621 agricultural machinery operators aged between 18 and 60 years old from Shandong, Henan and Hebei provinces were selected by purposive-cluster sampling method in 2009. Demographic characteristics, injury history caused by agricultural machinery in the last year and the related social and psychological factors were collected by self-designed questionnaire. We used statistical description to report the injury prevalence, and adopted the univariate and multivariate analysis to explore the risk factors. RESULTS: The average incidence of injuries caused by agricultural machinery was 13.44% (213/1585) in the three provinces, of which 14.46% (202/1397) in males and 5.85% (11/188) in females (χ(2) = 10.56, P < 0.01). Most of injuries (155 cases, 72.77%) occurred between April and August. Being stuck by rolling starting handles (45 cases, 21.13%), being crushed by running or dropping machineries (32 cases, 15.02%), fall from machines (28 cases, 13.15%) ranked the top three causes of injuries. The main related machines were tractors and motor tricycles (133 cases, 62.44%). The leading types of injuries were scratch (115 cases, 53.99%), strain (68 cases, 31.92%) and fracture (37 cases, 17.37%). RESULTS: of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that being male (OR = 3.18, 95%CI:1.65-6.15), educational level above high school(OR = 1.69, 95%CI:1.21-2.34), annual family income <2000 yuan (OR = 1.94, 95%CI:1.13-3.32), operating experience ≤ 5 years (OR = 1.70, 95%CI:1.13-2.55), daytime sleepiness (OR = 2.89, 95%CI:1.66-5.01), smoking during machinery operation (OR = 1.43, 95%CI:1.05-1.96), bearing debts (OR = 1.88, 95%CI:1.35-2.63) and suffering from other diseases (OR = 1.42, 95%CI:1.02-1.98) were risk factors of agricultural machinery injuries. CONCLUSION: The average incidence of injuries caused by agricultural machinery in the three provinces Shandong, Henan and Hebei, was rather high among agricultural machinery operators, especially in the males. Agricultural machinery injury has been an important issue endangering the health of rural labor force in recent years.

[A case-control study on the risk factors of work-related acute pesticide poisoning among farmers from Jiangsu province].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk factors on cases regarding work-related acute pesticide poisoning among farmers of Jiangsu province. METHODS: A population-based, 1:2 matched case-control study was carried out, with 121 patients as case-group paired by 242 persons with same gender, district and age less then difference of 3 years, as controls. Cases were the ones who had suffered from work-related acute pesticide poisoning. A unified questionnaire was used. Data base was established by EpiData 3.1, and SPSS 16.0 was used for both data single factor and multi-conditional logistics regression analysis. RESULTS: Results from the single factor logistic regression analysis showed that the related risk factors were: lack of safety guidance, lack of readable labels before praying pesticides, no regression during application, using hand to wipe sweat, using leaking knapsack, body contaminated during application and continuing to work when feeling ill after the contact of pesticides. Results from multi-conditional logistic regression analysis indicated that the lack of safety guidance (OR=2.25, 95%CI: 1.35-3.74), no readable labels before praying pesticides (OR=1.95, 95%CI: 1.19-3.18), wiping the sweat by hand during application (OR=1.97, 95%CI: 1.20-3.24) and using leaking knapsack during application (OR=1.82, 95%CI:1.10-3.01) were risk factors for the occurrence of work-related acute pesticide poisoning. CONCLUSION: The lack of safety guidance, no readable labels before praying pesticides, wiping the sweat by hand or using leaking knapsack during application were correlated to the occurrence of work-related acute pesticide poisoning.

Disability, home physical environment and non-fatal injuries among young children in China.

OBJECTIVES: We compared the patterns of medically attended injuries between children with and without disabilities and explored the residential environment risks in five counties of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China by a 1:1 matched case-control study based on the biopsychosocial model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health--ICF. METHODS: 1201 children aged 1-14 with disabilities and 1201 their healthy counterparts matched as having the same gender, same age, and lived in the same neighborhood were recruited in our study. Characteristics of injuries in the past 12 months were compared between children with and without disabilities. The associations among disability status, home environment factors and injuries were examined in logistic regression analysis taking into account sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Children with disabilities had a significantly higher prevalence of injury than children without disabilities (10.2% vs. 4.4%; P<.001). The two groups differed significantly in terms of number of injury episodes, injury place and activity at time of injury. Falls were the leading mechanism of injury regardless of disability status. Most of the injury events happened inside the home and leisure activities were the most reported activity when injured for both groups. The univariate OR for injury was 4.46 (2.57-7.74) for the disabled children compared with the non-disabled children. Disabled children whose family raised cat/dog(s) were 76% more likely to be injured during the last 12 months (OR = 1.76; 95% CI = 1.02, 3.02), comparing with those whose family did not have any cat/dog. And for children without disabilities, those whose family had cat/dog(s) were over 3 times more likely to having injuries comparing with those whose family did not have any cat/dog. CONCLUSIONS: Children with disabilities had a significantly increased risk for injury. Interventions to prevent residential injury are an important public health priority in children with disabilities.