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An Instrument to Measure Musculoskeletal Symptoms Among Immigrant Hispanic Farmworkers: Validation in the Nursery Industry

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health. 7(3): 185-198. (doi: 10.13031/2013.5442) @2001
Authors:   J. Faucett, J. Meyers, D. Tejeda, I. Janowitz, J. Miles, J. Kabashima
Keywords:   Musculoskeletal disease, Pain measurement, Agricultural worker, Ethnic groups, Mexican American, Literacy

We report on the construction and psychometrics of a survey measure of musculoskeletal symptomatology for use with Spanishspeaking immigrant farmworkers. Survey development included focus groups with workers, forward and backward translations, and pilot testing. The final survey includes a body diagram and items about symptom severity, frequency, and duration and about selftreatment, medical care, and job tasks. We report on the initial test of the survey with 213 commercial nursery workers in Southern California. Fiftyfive percent of the workers reported pain, with 30% reporting back pain, 21% reporting upper extremity pain, 19% reporting lower extremity pain, and 10% reporting neck and shoulder pain. A composite symptom score exhibited acceptable testretest reliability (r = 0.41, p < 0.01) over the annual agricultural cycle. Greater symptomatology was associated with greater frequency of selftreatment (r = 0.42, p < 0.01), seeking professional health care (t = 2.49, p < 0.05), and exposure to highrisk jobs (OR = 2.1, p < 0.05, CI = 1.0 to 4.4), supporting the validity of composite score.

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