Predictors of early cessation of dairy farming in the French Doubs province: 12-year follow-up.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A healthy worker effect due to respiratory disability has been noted in the farming population, but other factors may also interfere. Little has been published about factors influencing the early cessation of work in self-employed dairy farmers. METHODS: Two hundred and nineteen dairy farmers were included from a cohort constituted in eastern France in 1993-1994 with a 12-year follow-up. Spirometric data, personal, and farm characteristics were registered. Cox models with delayed entry in which age was the time-scale were applied to identify the baseline predictive factors of the early cessation of dairy farming. RESULTS: Working in a modern farm was protective against early cessation of dairy farming (hazard ratio 0.36 [95% CI 0.16-0.81]), especially in men. Having asthma was a predictive factor of early cessation, especially in women (hazard ratio 16.12 [95% CI 3.28-79.12]). CONCLUSIONS: The most predictive factors of early cessation of dairy farming were health related in women and farm related in men.