1 / 29

Aging Farmers: Findings from the UC Davis Farmer Cohort 1993-2004

Aging Farmers: Findings from the UC Davis Farmer Cohort 1993-2004. Marc Schenker, Diane Mitchell, Tracey Armitage Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety Department of Public Health Sciences Center for Health and the Environment University of California at Davis. Introduction.

manju
Download Presentation

Aging Farmers: Findings from the UC Davis Farmer Cohort 1993-2004

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Aging Farmers:Findings from the UC Davis Farmer Cohort 1993-2004 Marc Schenker, Diane Mitchell, Tracey Armitage Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety Department of Public Health Sciences Center for Health and the Environment University of California at Davis

  2. Introduction • UC Davis Farmer Health Study (UCD FHS) • In 1993 random selection of California farm operators • 1947 subjects surveyed by CATI • Re-surveyed in 1998 and 2004 (did not have to be actively farming) • Aim: Identify prevalence and risk factors for acute and chronic disease in CA farmers, with the objective of prevention of disease

  3. Outline • Characteristics of farmers aged >65 in 2004 compared to the general population • Older farmers compared with their younger counterparts in 2004 • Determinants of retirement • Changes in farmers > 55 in 1993 followed to 2004 • Mortality

  4. Comparison of UCD Farmer Data with CA and USA Farmers: Farming UCD FHS CA 1992 USA 1992 Demographics: 1993 N 1947 77,699 1,925,300 Mean age (y) 54.4 55.2 53.3 Females 10.1% 12.4% 7.5% White Non – Hispanic 84.5% 92.5% 97.6%  50% income from farming 48.6% Current smoker 12.0% Median acreage 60 10-49 50-179

  5. Comparison with the General Population >65 years old, 2004 Non-Hispanic White population, both sexes, aged 65 and above * USA category included coronary heart disease; 20.8% ** No equivalent in the USA data *** CA data

  6. Limitations on Activity: Older Farmers vs. Older US Adults, 2004 Bold: higher prevalence than in general population

  7. Average Hours per Week Worked by Active Farmers, 2004

  8. How do “older” farmers differ from “younger” farmers? We defined “older” farmers as greater than 65 years old and compared them to their younger counterparts. All were actively farming in 2004 when surveyed. • Demographics • Work hours • Exposures • Health

  9. Older vs Younger: Demographics

  10. Older vs. Younger: Work Hours

  11. Older vs Younger: Exposures

  12. Older vs Younger:Health Outcomes

  13. Do Older Farmers Really Retire? • We were able to separate ”Retired” farmers into two types of reduction of farming responsibilities • Whether they were not doing any type of farming – zero hours worked, either paid or just helping out. • Or whether they were still doing some work, but no longer made the day to day decisions on the farm. (No longer a primary operator)

  14. Aging Farmers > 65 years : Work Status in 2004

  15. Age Composition of Working and Retired Farmers

  16. Health Conditions Associated with Retirement (age >65) * Reference level = the percentage in the worst self-ranked category ** OR- Odds Ratio adjusted for age

  17. How do older farmers change over time? We defined “older” farmers as those over 65 in 2004. How had these farmers changed since originally interviewed in 1993? • Farm size and income • Commodities • Work hours • Exposures • Health outcomes

  18. 1993-2004: Salary and Farm Size

  19. 1993-2004: Commodities

  20. 1993-2004: Work Hours

  21. 1993-2004: Exposures

  22. 1993-2004:Health Outcomes

  23. Farmer Mortality:Expected vs. Observed Deaths

  24. Conclusions • Comparison to general population • Lower rates of diabetes and stroke/cardiovascular accidents • Higher rates of skin cancer, lung problems, and arthritis • Lower over-all mortality: 51% of expected, adjusted for age and gender (p<0.0001)

  25. Conclusions - 2 • Active farmers: ≤65 vs >65 • Younger farmers have higher rates of education, more acreage, work more hours, are more likely to drive tractors • Older farmers have lower household salaries, greater rates of diabetes • Determinants of Retirement • 70% of farmers over 65 continue to work in some capacity • Those who retire are twice as likely to have diabetes. They also rate themselves as having poorer health and work ability

  26. Conclusions - 3 • Change over time: 1993 - 2004 • Over time, farmers as a whole are less likely to have vegetables or field crops or to drive tractors, they spend less time in the field and decrease their total work hours, and decrease their prevalence of smoking. • Over time farmers are more likely to use a mask or cartridge when in dust, have higher rates of respiratory symptoms and diabetes, and are more likely to have an injury which limits their function.

  27. Agricultural Health and Safety Listserver Aghealth@wcahs.ucdavis.edu Or http://wcahs.ucdavis.edu

  28. Thank you! http://wcahs.ucdavis.edu

More Related