Prevelance and risk factors of agricultural injuries among elder people in Macheng city,Hubei province

Objective To explore the prevalence and risk factors of agricultural injury among elder people in Macheng city of Hubei province,and to provide preventive strategy for agricultural injury among elder people. Methods Multi-stage cluster sampling method was applied in this study.First,3 townships was randomly selected from 19 rural towns in Macheng city.Second,17 villages were randomly selected from 34 villages in the selected towns.Finally,face-to-face interview was conducted in the elderly(≥ 60 years old).SAS 8.2 was used to analyze the associations with χ² test,univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results A total of 772 people were surveyed and the incidence of agricultural injury was 13.47% among the elderly.The leading cause of the injuries was falls(40.38%).The results of analysis showed that health status(odds ratio OR=1.75,95% confidence interval 95% CI:1.08-2.84),pesticide storage(OR=1.87,95%CI:1.04-3.37),and wearing protective equipments(long pants,stock,shoes)during pesticide application(OR=0.50,95%CI:0.30-0.82)were significantly associated with the agricultural injuries.The risk factors were different between male and female elder people;smoking during pesticide application(OR=2.51,95%CI:1.07-5.93)was significantly associated with agricultural injury in the males.However,alcohol drinking(OR=2.87,95%CI:1.16-7.09)was significantly associated with agricultural injury in the females. Conclusion The findings indicated that the incidence of agricultural injury was high among elder people in rural community.It is necessary to strengthen the elder's self-protection awareness,and to improve mental and physical health level for the prevention of agricultural injuries in the elderly.