Place of Residence, Working Conditions and the Burden of Back Pain among Hired Farmworkers in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives: Back pain is the leading occupational health problem among agricultural workers. Current study aimed to assess the burden of farm work-related back pain and to investigate its associations with living residence location and work conditions among farmworkers. Methods: We used the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) data from 1999 to 2004, 2008–2010, and 2014. Work-related back pain was defined as a back pain that was developed when performing farm work in the 12 months prior to the interview, and it caused pain or discomfort for at least five consecutive days. To assess the associations of place of residence and working conditions (i.e. work equipment and access to toilet and water for washing hands at work) with back pain, we analyzed the data using mixed-effects logistic regression models while adjusting for age, gender, race, birthplace (US vs. foreign country), education, marital status, work authorization (yes vs. no), below poverty income, whether the worker was hired by a farm labor contractor or not, and weekly working hours. Results: The standardized annual back pain prevalence during the study period ranged from 2.6% to 11.3%. In the adjusted model, farmworkers who lived in a residence located on the farm, who did not have access to toilet at work, and who paid for work equipment had higher odds of back pain than their counterparts. Conclusion: Back pain is particularly common among farmworkers with poor working and living conditions. Interventions should target the identified high-risk groups to mitigate their burden of back pain.