Gender differences in the occurrence of nonfatalagricultural injuries among farmers in Fukuoka, Japan

Abstract

Background: The lack of information regarding nonfatal agricultural injuries has been recognized as an obstacle for effective injury prevention. The aim of this study was to describe gender differences in the pattern of nonfatal agricultural injuries between the years 2008 and 2009. Methods: Farmers' compensation injury claims were utilized to determine the mechanisms involved (machinery, non-machinery, and traffic), types of accident, sources of injury, kinds of injury, body parts affected place of injury, work being performed at the time of injury, and length of hospitalization. Agricultural injuries were identified using the International Classification of External Causes of Injury (ICECI). The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software was used for all statistical analyses. Study variables were compared using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test. Results: A total of 2,729 (1,921 males) farmers' compensation injury claims were analyzed. There were approximately 9 times as many nonfatal agricultural machinery injuries in males compared with females. The most common machinery injuries were cuts resulting from a rotary blade (31%) for males and injuries caused by being struck by a machine (24%) for females in the 65-89 years of age group. The male:female ratio of non-machinery injuries averaged 2:1 (actual numbers of 1,293 and 676, respectively), but the percentage was higher for females (83.7%) than males (67.3%). For both males and females in the 65-89 years of age group, the main source of non-machinery injuries was slopes, the main type of accident was falling/slipping, the leading kind of injury was fracture, and the main work being performed was harvesting. Female farmers had a greater risk of prolonged hospitalization (more than 30 days) compared with males (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Gender is an important factor to consider in the interpretation of nonfatal agricultural injuries. A greater number of males had machinery injuries than females; however, a higher per-

Low risk for hip fracture and high risk for hip arthroplasty due to osteoarthritis among Swedish farmers

“…However, leisure physical activity may cause fracture through accidents rather than skeletal fragility, for example through cycling or other sports that increase the risk of injury [23]. A similar problem may also confound studies of occupational physical activity [21,40], which if true suggests that the protective effect of farming on hip fracture risk due to skeletal fragility may be greater than reported here.…”

Research progress of wearable plantar pressure monitoring system

“…A study showed that 30% of elderly people (65 years old and above) in the United States have one fall per year, and 11. 6% of the total accidents in Japan when elderly people are working in agriculture [25][26] , therefore, monitoring the behavior of elderly people can provide timely rescue for fall accidents and effectively reduce the casualty rate. By integrating flexible pressure sensors, axial accelerometers and other components into the sports shoe body, a wearable fall monitoring system that monitors the subject's movement status in real time can be made.…”