Physician notified work-related diseases among farmers in Norway: Data from 2007 – 2016

Introduction: This study provided a profile of work-related diseases in the farming sector notified by physicians to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s (NLIA) Registry for Work-Related Diseases (RAS) over a 10-year period. Methods: Data for the occupational code “farmers” were extracted from RAS for the period 2007–2016. We performed a descriptive analysis to obtain frequency, percentage, and incidence distribution of the data. We also explored the relationship of the notified diagnosis with gender, age, occupational exposures and the type of reporting physicians. Results: Four hundred and sixty-nine cases of work-related diseases among farmers were notified in the period 2007–2016. Eighty-seven percent of the reported cases were males. The incidence of work-related diseases for the entire study period was computed to be 114/100 000 workers. The incidence and number of cases notified were highest among males and for the age group 55–74 years. Noise was the most frequently reported occupational exposure accounted for 291 cases. Hearing loss constituted for 62% of the notified cases, followed by respiratory diseases that accounted for 20% of the cases. Forty-eight cases of skin diseases, while only a few cases of musculoskeletal (n = 7) and mental disorders (n = 1) were notified. There was a...