ABSTRACT

Occupational and environmental exposures in the agricultural industry have been associated with several illnesses and poor health outcomes. Information regarding the characteristics and health status of the labor force working in the agricultural sector in Puerto Rico is limited. The overall objective of this study was to increase the available information on agricultural workers health and needs by ascertaining the potential differences in characteristics and health status of farmworkers when compared to the general population in rural Puerto Rico This cross-sectional study used the collection and analysis of medical records of agricultural workers and non-agricultural workers in Hospital General Castañer, located in Lares, Puerto Rico. The research period was five years, from 2012 to 2016. This research described agricultural workers’ demographic and socioeconomic profile and evaluated relationships between one or more demographic variables and farmer’s health. Agricultural workers presented alower prevalence of hypertensive disease (69.4%) and ahigher prevalence of cerebrovascular disease (3.4%) when compared to non-agricultural workers. In other words, agricultural workers were 21% less likely to have hypertensive disease as compared to non-agricultural workers. Results for agricultural workers showed that 4.0% of the workers were diagnosed with arthritis, and 48.8% had suffered at least one type of dorsopathy. The results from this research provide useful information for developing an appropriate framework to address Puerto Rican agricultural worker’s health while promoting the agricultural industry development on the island. Finally, this study provided insight into the prevalence and demographic characteristics of agriculture workers in acentral region of Puerto Rico. Further efforts are needed to better define the agricultural workers and farming communities in Puerto Rico that may be exposed to related hazards.

摘要

农业行业的职业和环境暴露与多种疾病和不良健康结果有关。关于波多黎各农业部门劳动力特征和健康状况的信息有限。本研究的总体目标是通过确定与波多黎各农村一般人口相比，农场工人的特征和健康状况的潜在差异，增加有关农业工人健康和需求的可用信息。位于波多黎各拉雷斯的 Castañer 总医院的农业工人和非农业工人的医疗记录。研究时间为5年，从2012年到2016年。这项研究描述了农业工人的人口统计和社会经济概况，并评估了一个或多个人口统计变量与农民健康之间的关系。与非农业工人相比，农业工人的高血压患病率较低（69.4%），脑血管疾病患病率较高（3.4%）。换句话说，与非农业工人相比，农业工人患高血压疾病的可能性要低 21%。农业工人的结果显示，4.0% 的工人被诊断出患有关节炎，48.8% 的工人至少患有一种背病。这项研究的结果为制定适当的框架提供了有用的信息，以解决波多黎各农业工人的健康问题，同时促进岛上的农业发展。最后，本研究深入了解了波多黎各中部地区农业工人的流行情况和人口特征。需要进一步努力以更好地界定波多黎各可能面临相关危害的农业工人和农业社区。