Table 4.
Self-reported symptoms and safety behaviors from young adult hog producers enrolled in Gear Up for Ag™ programs (2017–2021).
| Variable | Proportional response % (N) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||
| Total | Males | Females | P-Value | ||
| Pre-Survey | N = 703 | N = 512 | N = 190 | ||
|
| |||||
| Ever experienced shortness of breath, cough, fever, or chills ever experienced with agricultural work in a dusty environment | Yes | 39.8% (274) | 38.5% (197) | 40.5% (77) | 0.41 |
| No | 49.8% (350) | 49.8% (255) | 50% (95) | 0.41 | |
| Missing* | 11.2% (79) | 11.7% (60) | 9.5% (18) | 0.40 | |
|
| |||||
| Wears a NIOSH-certified filtering facepiece respirator (N95) when performing agricultural work in dusty environments | Always | 15.5% (109) | 17.1 (88) | 13.0 (25) | 0.40 |
| Sometimes† | 60.7 5 (427) | 64.5 (311) | 49.9 (95) | 0.01 | |
| Never† | 10.7% (75) | 7.8 (40) | 16.4 (31) | 0.02 | |
| Missing | 13.1% (92) | 10.6 (73) | 20.7 (39) | 0.04 | |
|
| |||||
| Ever worn a cartridge style respirator when performing different tasks on the farm | Yes† | 30.4% (214) | 37.4 (191) | 13.1 (25) | <0.0001 |
| No† | 59.0% (415) | 51.8 (265) | 79.0 (150) | <0.0001 | |
| Missing | 10.5% (74) | 10.8 (55) | 7.9 (15) | 0.26 | |
|
| |||||
| Ever been fit tested for a respirator | Yes† | 5.2% (37) | 6.4% (33) | 2.0% (4) | 0.022 |
| No | 72.1% (509) | 72.1% (369) | 72.6% (138) | 0.88 | |
| Unsure | 12.7% (90) | 10.5% (54) | 24.7% (47) | <0.0001 | |
| Missing | 9.4% (67) | 10.9% (56) | 0.1% (1) | 0.7315 | |
|
| |||||
| Finds value in receiving NIOSH-certified respirators as part of an educational program | Yes† | 78.8% (554) | 83.0% (425) | 67.4% (128) | <0.0001 |
| No | 8.1% (57) | 7.0% (36) | 11.1% (21) | 0.115 | |
| Unsure† | 12.7% (89) | 9.4% (48) | 21.6% (41) | <0.0001 | |
| Missing | 1.3% (9) | 0.5% (3) | 0% (0) | “ | |
|
| |||||
| Total** | Males | Females | P-Value | ||
| Post-Survey | N = 212 | N = 106 | N = 80 | P-Value | |
|
| |||||
| Likely to wear the filtering facepiece respirator (N95) received during the program | Very likely | 43.3% (92) | 45.3% (48) | 33.8% (27) | 0.112 |
| Somewhat likely | 40.5% (86) | 39.6% (42) | 50.0% (40) | 0.158 | |
| Not likely | 8.5% (18) | 6.6% (7) | 12.5% (10) | 0.168 | |
| Missing | 7.5% (16) | 8.5% (9) | 3.8% (3) | 0.7956 | |
|
| |||||
| Likely to wear the cartridge style respirator received during the program | Very likely | 35.8% (76) | 38.7% (41) | 30.0% (24) | 0.219 |
| Somewhat likely | 43.4% (92) | 41.5% (44) | 41.3% (33) | 0.968 | |
| Not likely | 11.8% (25) | 9.4% (10) | 18.8% (15) | 0.066 | |
| Missing | 9.0% (19) | 10.4% (11) | 10. 0% (8) | 0.93 | |
|
| |||||
| Purchased an additional respirator for themselves or someone else after the program | Yes | 20.3% (43) | 27.4% (29) | 17.5% (14) | 0.114 |
| No | 64.6% (137) | 71.7% (76) | 76.3% (61) | 0.484 | |
| Missing | 2.8% (6) | 0.9% (1) | 6.3% (5) | 0.842 | |
*
Missing = survey question response was blank;
**
'Total' of 212 does not equal overall numbers of males and females, n=26 had missing data for gender.
†
Indicates significant difference observed between males and females using a two-sample Z-test for proportions or two sample chi-square test for proportions if N ≤ 5.