10. tbl. 95. árg. 2009

General health in Icelandic farmers

Background: There is limited information on the general health of Icelandic farmers. It has been suggested that it might be worse than among other professions. This is thought to be in part because of the unique work environment of farmers.The aims of the study were to compare the general health of animal farmers with a group of non-farmers, and test the hypothesis that animal farmers overall have a better general health than non-farmers.

Methods: A cross sectional study of all animal farmers in Iceland operating running a farm of more than 100 animal (sheep) units compared with a group of non-farmers. A total of 2042 farmers were sent a detailed questionnaire concerning general health symptoms and doctor visits (response rate 54%). The comparison group consisted of 1500 randomly chosen non-farming individuals (response rate 46%).

Results: Farmers comprised more males, were older and smoked less than non-farmers. When general health symptoms for the last 12 months were compared between farmers and non-farmers, minor differences were noted. Farmers less commonly had restless legs, fatigue, diarrhea, allergy and hearing loss. There were no differences in doctor visits for many chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension despite the age difference between the groups. Repeated absence from work was less common among farmers and they had shorter sick leaves than comparison group.

Conclusions: Minor differences were noted in general symptoms and doctor visits between farmers and nonfarmers despite the fact that farmers were older. Absence from work for illness is less common among farmers. This study suggest that farmers general health is not worse than that of others.

Icel Med J 2009, 95: 655-9.

Table I. Demographics

	Female farmers	Female non-farmers	p value	Male farmers	Male non-farmers	p value
Age >50 years	40,6 %	36,8 %	ns	51,8%	39,9%	0,001
BMI (standard dev)	26.7 (5.4)	25.9 (4.7)	0.04	26.6(3.8)	26.9 (3.8)	em
Smoking last month	8,0%	20,4%	0,002	14,6%	22,9%	0,001
Ever smoked for one year	22,4%	51,3%	0,001	41,7%	59,3%	0,001
Alcohol use, do you drink alcohol?	56,9%	75,0%	0,001	73,0%	84,4	0,001
Married or cohabiting	66,4%	82,5%	0,001	85,6	81,1	0,02
Nomber of children <18 years	2,15 (1,3)	2,06(1,13)	ns	2,21(1,30)	2,06 (1,13)	ns
Elementary education	63,2%	41,5%	0,001	47,8	22,4%	0,001
Spouse works away from home	35,6%	86,7%	0,001	44,8%	77,1%	0,001

BMI: body mass index

Table II. Symptoms last 12 months.

Symptoms	Female Farmers %	Female Non-farmers %	p value	Male Farmers %	Male Non-farmers %	p value
Restless legs	48	59	p<0.035	40	50	p<0.005
Fatigue/exhaustion	50	51	ns	49	56	p<0.024
Dyspepsia	51	53	ns	55	60	ns
Diarrhea	69	80	p<0.01	78	82	ns
Heartburn	54	61	ns	48	43	ns
Frequent urination	57	62	ns	57	62	ns
Headache	22	21	ns	36	31	ns
Skin allergy	45	56	p<0.036	54	55	ns
Other allergy	67	71	ns	68	75	0.022
Backache	20	25	ns	19	27	p<0.005
Irregular heartbeat	58	66	ns	66	72	p<0.04
Nausea and vomiting	63	74	0,02	75	80	ns
Hearing loss	67	77	p<0.046	64	73	P<0.005
Dryness of eyes	60	63	ns	74	72	ns
Tinnitus	54	61	ns	59	58	ns
Dry mouth	64	66	ns	68	67	ns
Inflamed joints	26	34	ns	37	46	p<0.001
Painful extremites	22	36	p<0.003	29	40	p<0.001
Numbness	51	61	p<0.06	55	58	ns
Discomfort in lower extremites with prolonged standing	34	51	p<0.001	45	49	ns
Syncope	56	63	ns	69	70	ns
Sweat and tremors	64	70	ns	71	74	ns
Fatigue, exhaustion	48	48	ns	49	55	ns
Hypertension	62	71	ns	66	65	ns

Table III. Visit to a doctor for symptoms last 12 months.

	Female Farmers %	Female Non-farmers %	P value	Male farmers %	Male non-farmers %	pvalue
Chronic bronchitis	6	3	ns	3	1	ns
Arthritis	5	9	ns	4	5	ns
Muscular discomfort	27	32	ns	20	16	ns
Fibromyalgia	4	11	p<0,035	4	3	ns
Back problems	16	28	p<0,01	23	21	ns
Chronic fatigue	7	11	ns	6	6	ns
Thyroid diseases	4	10	p<0,05	2	1	ns
Diabetes mellitus	1	2	ns	2	2	ns
Thrombosis	0	1	ns	1	2	ns
Coronary artery disease	0	1	ns	3	6	ns
Arrhythmias	9	8	ns	4	8	ns
Hypertension	15	14	ns	15	16	ns
Colon spasms	4	6	ns	1	2	ns
Headache	12	18	ns	6	9	ns
Pain	22	25	ns	21	18	ns
Sleep difficulties	6	15	p<0.011	6	8	ns
Benign tumor	5	2	ns	2	2	ns
Malignant tumor	2	1	ns	0	2	ns
Eye diseases	5	8	ns	5	5	ns
Hearing loss/decreased hearing	2	7	p<0,05	4	3	ns
Cold/flu like symptoms	16	27	p<0,019	17	20	ns

Ns: not significant

Table IV. Absence from work because of illness.

	Female farmers %	Female non-farmers %	Male farmers%	Male non-farmer %
Never	60	26	64	39
1-3 times	34	55	31	50
4-6 times	4	14	2	6
7 times or more	2	5	2	5

P<0.001 for difference between farmers and non-farmers males and females

Table V. Time away from work because of illness

	Female farmers %	Female non-farmers %	Male farmers %	Male non-farmers %
Never	59	26	63	38
Less than week	31	53	28	50
1-2 weeks	3	12	3	6
More than 2 weeks	6	9	6	6

P<0.001 for difference between farmers and non-farmers males and females