Recruitment of Row Crop Farmers into a Research Study to Assess Farm Hazards

ABSTRACT

Farmers are at an elevated risk for injuries and are, therefore, highly sought after for research studies. However, their participation in research studies is low. We examine how characteristics of the farmer, farm location, and timing of recruitment contact impact the probability that farmers will engage and participate in a study of injuries and related farm hazards. Study data were obtained from the Farm Safety Study conducted at the University of Iowa between June 2019 and March 2020. We used recruitment data from participants enrolled using Farm Journal magazine subscription lists. Multinomial logistic regression was used for predictive modeling. Predictor variables included the time of day and the farm season in which phone contact for study recruitment was attempted, as well as the rurality of the farm. Two models were created to characterize screening and participation of farmers in the study. Farm season and time of day of the last recruitment call increased the likelihood of farmers being screened for study participation and completing the study. Specifically, contacting farmers during the growing season and during the daytime, regardless of farm rurality, resulted in higher probabilities of participation. Studies of agricultural injury may be more efficiently conducted, with higher participation responses, when circumstances of the recruitment call are considered. This work serves as a starting place for much-needed methodological research to identify factors that increase participation of farmers and farm workers in research studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Agriculture
• farmers
• injury
• research
• study recruitment

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Kayla Faust, Rebekah Estes, and Virgil Jackson for their agricultural injury expertise and skills in data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention (Grant numbers: U54 OH 007548, T42 OH 008491). Its contents, are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official, views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.