Agricultural Injuries: Risk Factors and Severity by Affected Body Part among US (Midwest) Farmers

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart showing the selection procedure for creating the dataset for analyses from the farm and ranch health and safety survey, 2018.

Table 1. Frequency and severity of injuries by body part for the Farm and Ranch Health and Safety Survey, 2018.

Body part injured	Any injury, n (%)^a	Serious injury, n (%)^b	Average cost ($)
Eye/head/neck	76 (15.2)	60 (78.9)	28,405
Chest/Trunk	24 (4.8)	20 (83.3)	30,597
Back	75 (15.0)	58 (77.3)	15,066
Arm/shoulder	78 (15.6)	63 (80.8)	12,783
Hand/wrist	55 (11.0)	40 (72.7)	6,282
Finger	49 (9.8)	34 (69.4)	2,356
Leg/knee/hip	99 (19.8)	75 (75.8)	10,533
Ankle/foot/toe	25 (5.0)	19 (76.0)	7,652
Other	18 (3.6)	12 (66.7)	14,883
Missing	14	2	13,797
Total	513 (100)	383 (74.6)	142,353

^aCount and column percent.

^bCount and row percentage.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and crude association of operator and farm-level characteristics with each body part injured for the Farm and Ranch Health and Safety Survey, 2018 (part I) (n = 4,351)^a.

Variables	Eye/head/neck		Chest/trunk		Back		Arm/shoulder
	Yes n (%)^b	OR (95% CI)^c	Yes n (%)^b	OR (95% CI)^c	Yes n (%) ^b	OR (95% CI)^c	Yes n (%) ^b	OR (95% CI)^c
Individual factors:
Sex
Male	67 (89.3)	1.40 (0.67–2.93)	19 (79.2)	0.68 (0.25–1.84)	71 (94.7)	3.53 (1.17–10.68)	72 (92.3)	2.06 (0.89–4.79)
Female	8 (10.7)	Reference	5 (20.8)	Reference	4 (5.3)	Reference	6 (7.7)	Reference
Missing	1	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A
Age group
45–64	36 (47.4)	0.61 (0.19–1.89)	15 (62.5)	1.27 (0.17–9.30)	42 (56.0)	1.38 (0.41–4.62)	49 (62.8)	5.82 (1.33–25.37)
65+	22 (28.9)	0.47 (0.09–2.61)	4 (16.7)	1.44 (0.07–28.36	20 (26.7)	1.63 (0.27–9.93)	21 (26.9)	14.02 (1.54–127.78)
18–44	18 (23.7)	Reference	5 (20.8)	Reference	13 (17.3)	Reference	8 (10.3)	Reference
Operator status
Principal operator	57 (75.0)	1.20 (0.47–3.05)	18 (75.0)	1.58 (0.29–8.68)	62 (82.7)	2.19 (0.66–7.24)	64 (82.1)	1.66 (0.61–4.52)
Operator 2	14 (18.4)	1.44 (0.22–9.28)	5 (20.8)	2.49 (0.08–75.38)	10 (13.3)	4.79 (0.44–52.37)	10 (12.8)	2.74 (0.37–20.48)
Operator 3	5 (6.6)	Reference	1 (4.2)	Reference	3 (4.0)	Reference	4 (5.1)	Reference
Primary occupation
Farm/Ranch	67 (88.2)	1.42 (0.71 2.86)	21 (87.5)	1.28 (0.38–4.36)	68 (91.9)	2.44 (0.99–6.01)	72 (93.5)	2.82 (1.12–7.12)
Other	9 (11.8)	Reference	3 (12.5)	Reference	6 (8.1)	Reference	5 (6.5)	Reference
Missing	0	N/A	0	N/A	1	N/A	1	N/A
Primary operation
Farm	56 (77.8)	0.70 (0.36–1.33)	18 (78.3)	1.25 (0.29–5.37)	62 (84.9)	0.98 (0.43–2.26)	58 (76.3)	0.52 (0.29–0.96)
Both	5 (6.9)	0.34 (0.05–2.37)	3 (13.0)	1.93 (0.02–154.53)	2 (2.7)	0.95 (0.08–11.54)	3. (4.0)	0.14 (0.02–0.88)
Ranch	11 (15.3)	Reference	2 (8.7)	Reference	9 (12.3)	Reference	15 (19.7)	Reference
Missing	4	N/A	1		2	N/A	2	N/A
Full time status
75–100%	59 (77.6)	1.26 (0.73–2.17)	17 (70.8)	0.87 (0.35–2.16)	64 (86.5)	2.53 (1.27–5.03)	64 (82.0)	1.69 (0.94–3.05)
Less than 75%	17 (22.4)	Reference	7 (29.2)	Reference	10 (13.5)	Reference	14 (18.0)	Reference
Missing	0		0	N/A	1		0	N/A
Farm level factors:
Livestock production
Yes	44 (57.9)	1.53 (0.97–2.42)	17 (70.8)	2.70 (1.10–6.63)	37 (49.3)	1.08 (0.67–1.75)	47 (60.3)	1.69 (1.07–2.67)
No	32 (42.1)	Reference	7 (29.2)	Reference	38 (50.7)	Reference	31(39.7)	Reference
Corn production
Yes	69 (90.8)	0.98 (0.45–2.13)	21 (87.5)	0.70 (0.21–2.37)	69 (92.0)	1.11 (0.48–2.60)	68 (87.2)	0.68 (0.33–1.40)
No	7 (9.2)	Reference	3 (12.5)	Reference	6 (8.0)	Reference	10 (12.8)	Reference
Hay production
Yes	51 (67.1)	0.90 (0.56–1.46)	18 (75.0)	1.35 (0.48–3.77)	53 (70.7)	1.05 (0.62–1.78)	61 (78.2)	1.59 (0.93–2.74)
No	25 (32.9)	Reference	6 (25.0)	Reference	22 (29.3)	Reference	17 (21.8)	Reference
Soybean production
Yes	66 (86.8)	1.06 (0.55–2.06)	18 (75.0)	0.47 (0.19–1.22)	70 (93.3)	2.35 (0.94–5.88)	60 (76.9)	0.53 (0.31–0.92)
No	10 (13.2)	Reference	6 (25.0)	Reference	5 (6.7)	Reference	18 (23.1)	Reference

^aParticipants with no injury were included in the analysis as the control group.

^bcolumn percent.

^cunadjusted Odd Ratio (OR); 95% Confidence interval (CI); bolded estimates are significant.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics and crude association of operator and farm-level characteristics with each body part injured for the Farm and Ranch Health and Safety Survey, 2018 (part II) (n = 4,351)^a.

Variables	Hand/wrist		Finger		Leg/knee/hip		Ankle/foot/toe
	Yes n (%)^b	OR (95% CI)^c	Yes n (%)^b	OR (95% CI)^c	Yes n (%)^b	OR (95% CI)^c	Yes n (%)^b	OR (95% CI)^c
Individual factors:
Sex
Male	48 (88.9)	1.37 (0.58–3.22)	46 (93.9)	2.74 (0.81–9.27)	87 (87.9)	1.21 (0.66–2.24)	24 (96.0)	4.00 (0.54–29.61)
Female	6 (11.1)	Reference	3 (6.1)	Reference	12 (12.1)	Reference	1 (4.0)	Reference
Missing	1	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A
Age group
45–64	31 (56.4)	0.58 (0.16–2.03)	28 (57.1)	0.48 (0.14–1.67)	64 (64.6)	6.52 (1.71–24.86)	12 (48.0)	0.61 (0.09–4.37)
65+	8 (14.5)	0.44 (0.07–2.90)	5 (10.2)	0.33 (0.05–2.16)	25 (25.3)	16.63 (2.23–123.94)	7 (28.0)	0.48 (0.03–9.13)
18–44	16 (29.1)	Reference	16 (32.7)	Reference	10 (10.1)	Reference	6 (24.0)	Reference
Operator status
Principal operator	42 (76.4)	4.95 (0.59–41.41)	36 (73.5)	0.96 (0.35–2.62)	71 (71.7)	1.49 (0.60–3.68)	20 (80.0)	2.09 (0.28–15.79)
Operator 2	12 (21.8)	24.51 (0.35–174.89)	9 (18.4)	0.93 (0.13–6.89)	23 (23.2)	2.22 (0.36–13.55)	4 (16.0)	4.39 (0.08–249.57)
Operator 3	1 (1.8)	Reference	4 (8.1)	Reference	5 (5.1)	Reference	1 (4.0)	Reference
Primary occupation
Farm/Ranch	45 (81.8)	0.86 (0.43–1.75)	44 (89.8)	1.63 (0.65–4.08)	89 (89.9)	1.72 (0.89–3.32)	23 (92.0)	2.19 (0.52–9.25)
Other	10 (18.2)	Reference	5 (10.2)	Reference	10 (10.1)	Reference	2 (8.0)	Reference
Primary operation
Farm	41 (83.7)	1.12 (0.44–2.85)	39 (79.6)	0.72 (0.28–1.87)	76 (77.5)	0.69 (0.40–1.21)	20 (83.3)	1.10 (0.75–2.21)
Both	3 (6.1)	1.41 (0.09–23.21)	2 (4.1)	0.37 (0.02–6.52)	7 (7.2)	0.33 (0.06–1.77)	0 (0)	1.06 (0.09–3.06)
Ranch	5 (10.2)	Reference	8 (16.3)	Reference	15 (15.3)	Reference	4 (16.7)	Reference
Missing	6	N/A	0	N/A	1	N/A	1	N/A
Full time status
Less than 75%	13 (24.1)	Reference	7 (14.3)	Reference	18 (18.2)	Reference	4 (16.0)	Reference
75–100%	41 (75.9)	1.16 (0.61–2.20)	42 (85.7)	2.25 (0.99–5.12)	81 (81.8)	1.65 (0.98–2.76)	21 (84.0)	1.90 (0.65–5.54)
Missing	1	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A
Farm level factors:
Livestock production
Yes	28 (50.9)	1.15 (0.67–1.96)	32 (65.3)	2.16 (1.18–3.97)	63 (63.6)	1.96 (1.30–2.97)	9 (36.0)	0.62 (0.27–1.41)
No	27 (49.1)	Reference	17 (34.7)	Reference	36 (36.4)	Reference	16 (64.0)	Reference
Corn production
Yes	49 (89.1)	0.83 (0.32–2.17)	44 (89.8)	0.87 (0.34–2.23)	82 (82.8)	0.47 (0.28–0.80)	23 (92.0)	1.15 (0.27–4.89)
No	6 (10.9)	Reference	5 (10.2)	Reference	17 (17.2)	Reference	2 (8.0)	Reference
Hay production
Yes	40 (72.7)	1.19 (0.64–2.22)	33 (67.3)	0.89 (0.48–1.64)	81 (81.8)	2.01 (1.20–3.35)	19 (76.0)	1.40 (0.56–3.50)
No	15 (27.3)	Reference	16 (32.7)	Reference	18 (18.18)	Reference	6 (24.0)	Reference
Soybean production
Yes	43 (78.2)	0.57 (0.29–1.13)	39 (79.6)	0.60 (0.29–1.22)	86 (86.9)	1.07 (0.59–1.92)	20 (80.0)	0.64 (0.24–1.71)
No	12 (21.8)	Reference	10 (20.4)	Reference	13 (13.1)	Reference	5 (20.0)	Reference

^aParticipants with no injury were included in the analysis as the control group.

^bcolumn percent ^c unadjusted Odd Ratio (OR); 95% Confidence interval (CI); bolded estimates are significant.

Table 4. Multivariable analysis of the associations between operator and farm-level characteristics with body part injured for the Farm and Ranch Health and Safety Survey, 2018 (n = 4,351)^a.

Variables	Arm/Shoulder ^b	Chest/Trunk ^b	Back^b	Finger^b	Leg/knee/hip^b
	OR (95%CI)^b	OR (95% CI)^b	OR (95% CI)^b	OR (95% CI)^b	OR (95% CI)^b
Sex (male vs. female)			0.36 (0.12–1.07)
Primary occupation (Farm/Ranch vs. other)	3.50 (1.28–9.62)*
Operation type
Farm vs. ranch	0.57 (0.29–1.07)
Both vs. ranch	0.18 (0.03–1.24)
Full time status (75–100% vs. less than 75%)			2.12 (1.03–4.34)*
Livestock production (Yes vs. no)	1.39 (0.85–2.31)	2.77 (1.13–6.82)		2.28 (1.25–4.14)*	1.69 (1.10–2.59)*
Corn production (Yes vs. no)
Hay production (Yes vs. no)					1.71 (1.01–2.92)*

^aParticipants with no injury were included in the analysis as the control group.

^bGeneralized estimating equation (GEE) multivariable analysis was performed separately for each outcome variable shown in the table (column) and adjusted for age and the independent variables (row) that showed a positive association with the outcome variable in the univariable analysis (adjusted OR have been reported in the table for the independent variables included in each model). Based on the univariable analysis, models differ in the type and number of independent variables for each outcome variable included. For example, for the model with Arm/shoulder as outcome variable, the independent variables included age, primary occupation, operation type, and livestock production. Meanwhile, regarding the model with Chest/Trunk as outcome variable, the independent variables included age and livestock production.

^cOR = adjusted Odds ratio; CI = confidence interval. * Adjusted OR >1.