How Vulnerable Are U.S. Crop Workers?: Evidence from Representative Worker Data and Implications for COVID-19.
J Agromedicine
; 26(2): 256-265, 2021 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1104623
ABSTRACT
Objectives This paper examines health profiles and work environments of hired U.S. farmworkers to understand the risk to essential workers and their employers, to the food supply, and to rural health systems such as what is possible with the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Large-sample statistical methods and proprietary data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey from 2000 to 2018 were used to assess factors associated with exposure to COVID-19 and vulnerabilities associated with medical complications. Results An aging workforce and increased access to health care within the crop worker population has been associated with a higher reported incidence of diabetes, asthma, and heart disease among workers over time. These trends confirm a vulnerable, but essential, workforce with higher risks for COVID-19 complications than would have been true of U.S. farmworkers as a group in earlier years. Conclusions Increasing age and disease burden in the U.S. agricultural labor force puts workers at increased risk for developing COVID-19 complications. Limits to field sanitation and housing quality inflate the probability of the development of COVID-19 hotbeds in rural communities that could further compromise the physical health of workers, the economic health of farm establishments, the agricultural supply-chain, and rural health capacities. Additional and more targeted worker protections may minimize public health and economic costs in the long run.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Occupational Exposure
/
Farmers
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Agromedicine
Journal subject:
Occupational Medicine
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
1059924X.2021.1890293
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS