Dataset Information

A Case-Crossover Study of Heat Exposure and Injury Risk in Outdoor Agricultural Workers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent research suggests that heat exposure may increase the risk of traumatic injuries. Published heat-related epidemiological studies have relied upon exposure data from individual weather stations.

Objective

To evaluate the association between heat exposure and traumatic injuries in outdoor agricultural workers exposed to ambient heat and internal heat generated by physical activity using modeled ambient exposure data.

Methods

A case-crossover study using time-stratified referent selection among 12,213 outdoor agricultural workers with new Washington State Fund workers' compensation traumatic injury claims between 2000 and 2012 was conducted. Maximum daily Humidex exposures, derived from modeled meteorological data, were assigned to latitudes and longitudes of injury locations on injury and referent dates. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios of injury for a priori daily maximum Humidex categories.

Results

The mean of within-stratum (injury day and corresponding referent days) standard deviations of daily maximum Humidex was 4.8. The traumatic injury odds ratio was 1.14 (95% confidence interval 1.06, 1.22), 1.15 (95% confidence interval 1.06, 1.25), and 1.10 (95% confidence interval 1.01, 1.20) for daily maximum Humidex of 25-29, 30-33, and ?34, respectively, compared to < 25, adjusted for self-reported duration of employment. Stronger associations were observed during cherry harvest duties in the June and July time period, compared to all duties over the entire study period.

Conclusions

Agricultural workers laboring in warm conditions are at risk for heat-related traumatic injuries. Combined heat-related illness and injury prevention efforts should be considered in high-risk populations exposed to warm ambient conditions in the setting of physical exertion.

SUBMITTER: Spector JT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5055365 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A Case-Crossover Study of Heat Exposure and Injury Risk in Outdoor Agricultural Workers.

Spector June T JT Bonauto David K DK Sheppard Lianne L Busch-Isaksen Tania T Calkins Miriam M Adams Darrin D Lieblich Max M Fenske Richard A RA

PloS one 20161007 10

<h4>Background</h4>Recent research suggests that heat exposure may increase the risk of traumatic injuries. Published heat-related epidemiological studies have relied upon exposure data from individual weather stations.<h4>Objective</h4>To evaluate the association between heat exposure and traumatic injuries in outdoor agricultural workers exposed to ambient heat and internal heat generated by physical activity using modeled ambient exposure data.<h4>Methods</h4>A case-crossover study using time ...[more]

PMID: 27716794

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Global warming is predicted to indirectly result in more undernutrition by threatening crop production. Whether temperature rise could affect undernutrition directly is unknown. We aim to quantify the relationship between short-term heat exposure and risk of hospitalization due to undernutrition in Brazil. METHODS AND FINDINGS:We collected hospitalization and weather data for the hot season (the 4 adjacent hottest months for each city) from 1,814 Brazilian cities during 1 January 2000-31 December 2015. We used a time-stratified case-crossover design to quantify the association between heat exposure and hospitalization due to undernutrition. Region-specific odds ratios (ORs) were used to calculate the attributable fractions (AFs). A total of 238,320 hospitalizations for undernutrition were recorded during the 2000-2015 hot seasons. Every 1°C increase in daily mean temperature was associated with a 2.5% (OR 1.025, 95% CI 1.020-1.030, p < 0.001) increase in hospitalizations for undernutrition across lag 0-7 days. The association was greatest for individuals aged ?80 years (OR 1.046, 95% CI 1.034-1.059, p < 0.001), 0-4 years (OR 1.039, 95% CI 1.024-1.055, p < 0.001), and 5-19 years (OR 1.042, 95% CI 1.015-1.069, p = 0.002). Assuming a causal relationship, we estimate that 15.6% of undernutrition hospitalizations could be attributed to heat exposure during the study period. The AF grew from 14.1% to 17.5% with a 1.1°C increase in mean temperature from 2000 to 2015. The main limitations of this study are misclassification of different types of undernutrition, lack of individual temperature exposure data, and being unable to adjust for relative humidity. CONCLUSIONS:Our study suggests that global warming might directly increase undernutrition morbidity, by a route other than by threatening food security. This short-term effect is increasingly important with global warming. Global strategies addressing the syndemic of climate change and undernutrition should focus not only on food systems, but also on the prevention of heat exposure.

Dataset Information

A Case-Crossover Study of Heat Exposure and Injury Risk in Outdoor Agricultural Workers.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

A Case-Crossover Study of Heat Exposure and Injury Risk in Outdoor Agricultural Workers.

Similar Datasets

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