. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Sep 29.

Published in final edited form as: Am J Ind Med. 2009 Apr;52(4):331–340. doi: 10.1002/ajim.20687

Table III.

Association Between Work in Poultry Processing Versus Other Low-Wage Jobs and the Prevalence of Physical Conditions

	Poultry Processing Workers (n=291)	Community Comparison Workers (n=299)	Prevalence Ratio^a (95% CI)

	n (%)	n (%)
Physical Health Related Quality of Life^b
≤48.14	103 (35.5)	44 (14.7)	2.41 (1.76 - 3.30)
>48.14	187 (64.5)	255 (85.3)
Upper-extremity
Musculoskeletal
symptoms^c
Moderate to Severe	100 (34.4)	32 (10.7)	3.21 (2.23 - 4.62)
Mild or None	191 (65.6)	267 (89.3)

Prevalence ratio is the proportion with low quality of life or moderate to severe musculoskeletal symptoms among poultry workers (the index exposure) relative to the proportion of each outcome among community comparison workers.

Score on SF-12 Health Summary Survey Instrument. [Ware, et al. 1995]

Symptoms defined as hand/wrist, elbows/forearm, shoulders or neck pain at least 3 times or lasting one week or longer during the past year.