TY - JOUR T1 - Comparison of Health Outcomes Among Older Construction and Blue-Collar Employees in the United States JF - American Journal of Industrial Medicine Y1 - 1998 A1 - Petersen, Jeffrey S. A1 - Zwerling, Craig KW - Employment and Labor Force KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Net Worth and Assets AB - This article examines health outcomes of older male construction workers (age 51-61), as compared with older male blue-collar workers of the same age range. Results show that older construction workers are significantly more susceptible to musculoskeletal problems, emotional disorders, and chronic lung disease (CLD). This high rate of CLD, non-smoking construction workers are three times more likely to have CLD than are non-smoking blue-collar workers, is most likely due to on-the-job dust exposure. These findings suggest the need for further research on these topics and on possible solutions to these problems. PB - Vol. 34 VL - Vol. 34 IS - 3 U4 - Health Status/Labor/Economic Status/Job Characteristics ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Occupational injuries among older workers with disabilities: a prospective cohort study of the Health and Retirement Survey, 1992 to 1994. JF - Am J Public Health Y1 - 1998 A1 - Zwerling, Craig A1 - Nancy L. Sprince A1 - Charles S. Davis A1 - Paul S. Whitten A1 - Robert B Wallace A1 - Steven G Heeringa KW - Accidents, Occupational KW - Age Distribution KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Analysis of Variance KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Disabled Persons KW - Female KW - Health Surveys KW - Humans KW - Logistic Models KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Odds Ratio KW - Prospective Studies KW - Retirement KW - Risk Factors KW - United States AB -

OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that among older workers, disabilities in general, and hearing and visual impairments in particular, are risk factors for occupational injuries.

METHODS: Using the first 2 interviews of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of Americans aged 51 to 61 years, we conducted a prospective cohort study of 5600 employed nonfarmers.

RESULTS: Testing a logistic regression model developed in a previous cross-sectional study, we found that the following occupations and risk factors were associated with occupational injury as estimated by odds ratios: service personnel, odds ratio = 1.71 (95% confidence interval = 1.13, 2.57); mechanics and repairers, 3.47 (1.98, 6.10); operators and assemblers, 2.33 (1.51, 3.61); laborers, 3.16 (1.67, 5.98); jobs requiring heavy lifting, 2.05 (1.55, 2.70); self-employment, 0.50 (0.34, 0.73); and self-reported disability, 1.58 (1.14, 2.19). Replacing the general disability variable with specific hearing and visual impairment variables, we found that poor hearing (1.35 [0.95, 1.93]) and poor sight (1.45 [0.94, 2.22]) both had elevated odds ratios.

CONCLUSIONS: Poor sight and poor hearing, as well as work disabilities in general, are associated with occupational injuries among older workers.

PB - 88 VL - 88 UR - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9807538/ IS - 11 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9807538?dopt=Abstract U4 - Labor/Occupational Injury/Health Status/Basic Demographics/Health Behaviors/Risk Factors/Disability/Disability ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Occupational injuries among older workers with visual, auditory, and other impairments. A validation study. JF - J Occup Environ Med Y1 - 1998 A1 - Zwerling, Craig A1 - Paul S. Whitten A1 - Charles S. Davis A1 - Nancy L. Sprince KW - Accidents, Occupational KW - Aged KW - Cohort Studies KW - Disabled Persons KW - Female KW - Health Surveys KW - Humans KW - Logistic Models KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Persons With Hearing Impairments KW - Risk Factors KW - Visually Impaired Persons AB -

This study aims to validate a previously defined model of the risk of occupational injuries among older workers with visual, auditory, or other impairments. That model was based upon the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The previous logistic regression model was recalculated using data from the 1994 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The parameter estimates for impaired hearing (.181 in NHIS, 1.55 in HRS), impaired vision (2.42 in NHIS, 1.48 in HRS), and self-employment (0.22 in NHIS, 0.49 in HRS) were in same direction and of roughly the same magnitude. The previously defined model was confirmed using NHIS data. The data suggest that as the workforce ages, more attention must be paid to the accommodation of disabilities in the workplace, especially sensory impairments-poor vision and hearing.

PB - 40 VL - 40 UR - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9729756/ IS - 8 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9729756?dopt=Abstract U4 - Accidents, Occupational/Cohort Studies/Disabled Persons/Gender/Hearing Impaired Persons/Logistic Models/Middle Age/Risk Factors/Support, Non U.S. Government/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/Visually Impaired Persons ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Alcohol and Occupational Injuries among Older Workers JF - Accident Analysis and Prevention Y1 - 1996 A1 - Zwerling, Craig A1 - Nancy L. Sprince A1 - Robert B Wallace A1 - Charles S. Davis A1 - Paul S. Whitten A1 - Steven G Heeringa KW - Demographics KW - Employment and Labor Force KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Methodology KW - Risk Taking PB - 28 VL - 28 IS - 3 U4 - Accidents, Occupational/Alcohol Drinking/Gender/Middle Age/Risk Factors/Sex Distribution/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/Wounds and Injuries ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Risk factors for occupational injuries among older workers: an analysis of the health and retirement study. JF - Am J Public Health Y1 - 1996 A1 - Zwerling, Craig A1 - Nancy L. Sprince A1 - Robert B Wallace A1 - Charles S. Davis A1 - Paul S. Whitten A1 - Steven G Heeringa KW - Accidents, Occupational KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Educational Status KW - Female KW - Health Status KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Occupational Diseases KW - Regression Analysis KW - Retirement KW - Risk Factors KW - Sex Factors KW - United States KW - Wounds and Injuries AB -

OBJECTIVES: This study examined risk factors for occupational injury among older workers.

METHODS: We analyzed data on 6854 employed nonfarmers from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a population-based sample of Americans 51 through 61 years old.

RESULTS: Occupational injuries were associated with the following: the occupations of mechanics and repairers (odds ratio [OR] = 2.27), service personnel (OR = 1.68), and laborers (OR = 2.18); jobs requiring heavy lifting (OR = 2.75); workers' impaired hearing (OR = 1.60) and impaired vision (OR = 1.53); and jobs requiring good vision (OR = 1.43). Self-employment was associated with fewer injuries (OR = 0.47).

CONCLUSIONS: These results emphasize the importance of a good match between job demands and worker capabilities.

PB - 86 VL - 86 IS - 9 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8806386?dopt=Abstract U4 - Accidents, Occupational/Educational Status/Health Status/Gender/Middle Age/Occupational Diseases/Regression Analysis/Retirement/Risk Factors/Sex Factors/Support, Non U.S. Government/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/Wounds and Injuries ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Effect of recall period on the reporting of occupational injuries among older workers in the Health and Retirement Study. JF - Am J Ind Med Y1 - 1995 A1 - Zwerling, Craig A1 - Nancy L. Sprince A1 - Robert B Wallace A1 - Charles S. Davis A1 - Paul S. Whitten A1 - Steven G Heeringa KW - Accidents, Occupational KW - Adult KW - Aged KW - Bias KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Data collection KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Incidence KW - Linear Models KW - Male KW - Mental Recall KW - Middle Aged KW - Models, Statistical KW - Reproducibility of Results KW - Retirement KW - Risk Factors KW - Time Factors KW - United States AB -

Studies of injury morbidity often rely on self-reported survey data. In designing these surveys, researchers must chose between a shorter recall period to minimize recall bias and a longer period to maximize the precision of rate estimates. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, which employed a recall period of 1 year, we examined the effect of the recall period on rates of occupational injuries among older workers as well as upon rate ratios of these injuries for nine risk factors. We fit a stochastic model to the occupational injury rates as a function of time before the interview and used this model to estimate what the injury rates would have been had we used a 4-week recall period. The adjusted occupational injury rate of 5.9 injuries per 100 workers per year was 36% higher than the rate based on a 1-year recall period. Adjustment for recall period had much less effect on rate ratios, which typically varied by < 10%. Our work suggests that self-reported surveys with longer recall periods may be used to estimate occupational injury rates and also may be useful in studying the associations between occupational injuries and a variety of risk factors.

PB - 28 VL - 28 IS - 5 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8561168?dopt=Abstract U4 - Accidents, Occupational/Adult/Bias (Epidemiology)/Morbidity/Gender/Incidence/Middle Age/Models, Statistical/Recall/Reproducibility of Results/Retirement/Risk Factors/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/Time Factors ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Occupational Injuries Among Agricultural Workers 51 to 61 Years Old: A National Study JF - Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health Y1 - 1995 A1 - Zwerling, Craig A1 - Nancy L. Sprince A1 - Robert B Wallace A1 - Charles S. Davis A1 - Paul S. Whitten A1 - Steven G Heeringa KW - Demographics KW - Employment and Labor Force KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Net Worth and Assets AB - This paper examines risk factors for occupational injuries among agricultural workers and compares them with the risk factors for injury among other older workers. The findings suggest that the risks for occupational injuries among agricultural workers differ from those that affect workers in all other occupations. While heavy lifting and poor eye sight were risk factors for both agricultural and other workers, self-employment- - which acted as a protective factor for other workers- - proved to be a risk factor for agricultural workers. Other variables - depressive symptoms and dissatisfaction with marriage, job, family life, the way problems are handled, and life overall - tended to be more strongly associated with occupational injuries in agricultural workers than among other workers. PB - 1 VL - 1 UR - https://elibrary.asabe.org/abstract.asp?search=1&JID=3&AID=19469&CID=j1995&v=1&i=4&T=1&urlRedirect=[anywhere=&keyword=&abstract=&title=on&author=&references=&docnumber=&journals=All&searchstring=Occupational%20Injuries%20among%20Agricultural%20Workers&pg= IS - 4 U4 - Self-Employment/Labor/Occupational Injury/Basic Demographics/Health Status/Health Behaviors/Economic Status ER -