Coxarthrosis and farm work: A case-referent study

The purpose of this case-referent study was to analyze the association between coxarthrosis and occupation. The study was performed in a Swedish agricultural county and comprised 269 cases of radiologically verified arthrosis or osteoarthritis (<3 mm joint space) that were compared to 538 randomly selected controls in the same region, matched for age, sex, and place of residence. Farmers and agricultural workers showed an increased risk of coxarthrosis and the observed risk increased with increasing number of years of farming. Tractor driving and milking were associated with coxarthrosis, whereas no association with other types of machine work could be demonstrated. An association between coxarthrosis and heavy physical work before the age of 16 years was also observed The results give only limited information on the external causes of coxarthrosis, however. More detailed studies of groups of individuals with coxarthrosis in order to obtain more information about contributing and underlying factors would therefore be valuable. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.