Colorado Injury Control Research Center

Dedicated to reducing the occurrence, severity and adverse consequences of injuries in the Rocky Mountain Region.

USA-China Agricultural Injury Research Training Project

Funding Agency: Fogarty International Center, US National Institute of Health
Grant No.: 1D43TW007257-01A2
Brief summary

There are an estimated 800 million farmers in the People’s Republic of China and little work has been done on injuries in this population. The rural setting, the large number of hazards, and the deficiencies in emergency care in remote areas provide an important opportunity to improve the health and safety among this important group of workers and their families. The overall goal of this project is to increase training and research related to farm-related injuries in China. In order to achieve this goal, short-term training of Chinese scholars interested in agricultural injury research will be conducted in the United States and short-term training will be conducted in the agricultural regions of China in collaboration with Injury Control Research Center at the Tongji School of Public Health, Wuhan, China, the Colorado Injury Control Research Center at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and the Center for Injury Research and Policy, the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

The long term goal of this project is to develop the expertise of Chinese scholars to address agricultural injury prevention and to develop more active research collaboration between Chinese scholars and US scholars related to agricultural injuries. The specific aims of the training project will be achieved using a mixture of training mechanisms designed for scientists who represent diverse academic disciplines. The training mechanisms include 5 day training seminars in China, web-based distance learning, and onsite learning at U.S. research institutions to meet the diverse learning needs of the trainees. Scientists from a broad variety of fields/sectors including epidemiologists, behavioral scientists, physicians, nurses, and local/state public health professionals are recruited through a candidate screening system. The first 5-day training session was held October 15-October 19, 2007 in Wuhan China. A total of 32 middle career and senior scientists attended; many said that the workshop was the best they had attended in recent years.

The training project will substantially enhance the expertise of scientists and public health professionals in China in agricultural injury-related research, increase trainee capacity to address issues in the legal, ethical, and social implications of trauma and injury research, strengthen the existing agricultural injury-related research and prevention in China, and create a communication network for injury researchers in China to interact with scientists around the world.

Farm Picture Wall

Colorado Injury Control Research Center
2007 Pilot Research Grant

Sleep Patterns and Farm Work-related Injuries Among Middle School Students in China
Principal Investigator: Huiyun Xiang, MD, MPH, PhD
Institution: Center for Injury Research and Policy, Nationwide Children’s Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, The Ohio State University

Abstract
China is one of the developing countries that have experienced rapid modernization and urbanization during the past two decades. As millions of male adults from rural areas in China are seeking temporary jobs in cities, females and adolescents are often left behind to take care of the agricultural work. In addition to time they spend on household chores and farm work, adolescents in China also face intense pressure at school. Also, it has been reported that Chinese children’s have more sleep problems than their U.S. counterparts. More farm activities, with accompanying inadequate or disrupted sleep, may lead to high risk of farm work-related injuries. The overarching goal of this study is to study sleep patterns and farm work-related injuries among middles school students in China. International partner: Wuhan University, The People’s Republic of China

Outcomes
Publication

Xiang H, Chen G, Postel M, Yu S, and Stallones L. Sleep Disturbance and Farm Work-related Injuries among Chinese Adolescents. 9th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, March 15-18, Merida, Mexico, 2008.

Xiang H, Chen G, Yu S, and Stallones L. School Activities, Sleep Patterns, and Traffic Injuries in Rural Middle School Students in China. 9th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, March 15-18th, Merida, Mexico, 2008.