A population-based study of tractor-related injuries: Regional rural injury study-I (RRIS-I)

Although tractors account for the majority of fatal farming-related injuries, little is known about the magnitude of this problem. The study population in this article was obtained from the five state Regional Rural Injury Study-1 (RRIS-I) database that included 3939 farm households and 13, 144 persons interviewed during 1990. Rates were calculated for sociodemographic variables and various exposures; logistic regression was used to calculate the relative risks and respective confidence intervals. Among the total farming-related injury events (n = 764), 65 (8.4%) were related to regular tractor (≤ 20 horsepower) use (495 injured persons per 100,000 persons per year). The rates increased incrementally for those persons working between 20 to 39 and 60 to 79 hours per week (range, 529 to 1430 per 100,000 persons). Among the 12 rollover events, there were only three injuries. The majority of injury events occurred while persons were mounting or dismounting the tractor (42%). Although only 7% of the cases were hospitalized, 83% required some type of health care. Among all injured persons, 43% were restricted from regular activities for 1 week or more and 20% were restricted for 1 month or more; 28% continued to have persistent problems. The finding of the large proportion of events associated with activities of mounting and dismounting suggests a need to investigate specific design characteristics of the tractors associated with these events and, in general, the tractors to which the population is exposed.