Time to definitive care among severely injured farmers compared to other work-related injuries in a Midwestern state

BACKGROUND: Farming is a high risk occupation that predisposes workers to injury, but may also lead to barriers in reaching trauma care. Little is known about emergency and trauma care for patients with farm-related injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine whether severely injured farmers presenting to a statewide trauma system faced delays in reaching definitive care compared to other severely injured workers. METHODS: A population-based observational study was performed using the Iowa State Trauma Registry from 2005 to 2011. The registry was used to identify a multiply imputed sample of severe occupational injuries. Time to definitive care for farm- and non-farm-related injuries was compared using Kaplan-Meier curves and an extended, stratified Cox model censoring at 4 h. An interaction with time was included in the Cox model to generate hazard ratios for each hour after injury. RESULTS: Seven-hundred forty-eight severe occupational injuries were identified; 21% of these were farm-related. The overall median time to definitive care was nearly an hour longer for farmers compared to other workers (2h46m vs. 1h48m, p < 0.05). When adjusted for confounders, farm status remained a significant predictor of delay in reaching definitive care, but only in the first hour after injury (HR = 0.44, 95%CI = 0.24–0.83). CONCLUSIONS: Farm-related injuries accounted for more than 1 of every 5 severe occupational injuries entered into the Iowa trauma system. We found that severely injured farmers had delays in reaching definitive trauma care, even when adjusted for confounding variables such as rurality. This effect was most pronounced in the first hour.