Abstract
Background: Hispanic immigrant workers dominate California's hired farm workforce. Little is known about their health status; even less is known about those lacking employment authorization. Methods: The California Agricultural Workers Health Survey (CAWHS) was a statewide cross-sectional household survey conducted in 1999. Six hundred fifty-four workers completed in-person interviews, comprehensive physical examinations, and personal risk behavior interviews. Results: The CAWHS PE Sample is comprised mostly of young Mexican men who lack health insurance and present elevated prevalence of indicators of chronic disease: overweight, obesity, high blood pressure, and high serum cholesterol. The self-reported, cumulative, farm work career incidence of paid claims for occupational injury under workers compensation was 27% for males and 11% for females. Conclusions The survey finds elevated prevalence of indicators of chronic disease but lack of health care access. Participants without employment authorization reported a greater prevalence of high-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking, and were less knowledgeable about workplace protections. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:387-397, 2010.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 387-397 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | American Journal of Industrial Medicine |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2010 |
Keywords
- Agricultural safety
- Farm labor
- Hired workers
- Immigrants
- Injury
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health