Abstract
Objective
Farmers have an increased risk for chronic bronchitis and airflow obstruction. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of these health outcomes with farm activities.
Methods
We evaluated the Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) enrollment data for farm activities and the two health outcomes chronic bronchitis based on self-reported symptoms and airflow obstruction based on spirometry. We used logistic regression to model the health outcomes, yielding an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for farm activities while adjusting for potential confounders and other risk factors.
Results
Of the 1234 farmers, 104 (8.4%) had chronic bronchitis, 75 (6.1%) fulfilled the criteria for airflow obstruction, and the two outcomes overlapped by 18 participants. Chronic bronchitis without airflow obstruction (n = 86) had a statistically significant association with crop storage insecticides (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.6, 6.1) and a low number of years (≤ 3) worked with turkeys (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.2, 9.4). The latter result should be interpreted with caution because it is based on a small number of cases (n = 5). Airflow obstruction with or without chronic bronchitis (n = 75) was significantly associated with ever working in a hog or chicken confinement setting (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0, 4.5).
Conclusions
These results suggest that work with crop storage insecticides or turkeys may increase the risk for chronic bronchitis and work in hog or chicken confinement may increase the risk for airflow obstruction.
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The data are participant-level and cannot be shared publicly.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the many residents of Keokuk County, Iowa, who participated in this study.
Funding
The KCRHS was supported (in part) by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health under Grants #U07/CCU706145 (Round 1) and #U50OH07548 (Round 2 and 3) to the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health at The University of Iowa.
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KMK contributed to the design and implementation (including data collection) of the Keokuk County Rural Health Study, which was the source of the data used in the current study. PKH, MJH, XL, BCD, and KMK made substantial contributions to the concept and design of the current study. All authors made substantial contributions to the implementation of the current study. SP, XL, and MLH conducted data management. SP conducted most data analyses and drafted the manuscript, assisted by all other authors. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results, provided a critical review of the manuscript, and approved the final version that was submitted for publication.
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The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the University of Iowa approved the KCRHS study protocol, and the current analysis is part of a project approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health IRB. Each KCRHS participant provided written informed consent before taking part in the study.
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Plombon, S., Henneberger, P.K., Humann, M.J. et al. The association of chronic bronchitis and airflow obstruction with lifetime and current farm activities in a sample of rural adults in Iowa. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 95, 1741–1754 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01866-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01866-4