Characteristics of All-Terrain Vehicles and Their Operators on Kentucky Farms
The Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service has not yet collected data on all terrain vehicles on farms, even through ATV-related injuries and deaths are a fast-growing public health concern. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Kentucky led the nation for ATV deaths from 2002-2006, with increasing numbers of fatalities annually. Prevalence of ATVs on farms is currently unknown, but Goldcamp et al (2006) estimated that there were 481 ATVs per 1,000 farms in the southeast United States in 2001 (CI 95% + 27). This project, funded through the 2007 Feasibility Projects Program of the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention, aims to increase knowledge of ATV prevalence and patterns of use on Kentucky farms; to help determine how frequently ATVs are used for farm chores (versus recreation); and to help identify those sub-groups whose age, environment, riding characteristics, etc., make them especially vulnerable to ATV injury events.
Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a conceptual framework, a random sample of farm households (N=4500) will be recruited to participate in a mail survey. A listing of eligible farms will be obtained from the USDA Kentucky Farm Service Agency and farms will be selected with a probability proportional to size sampling (PPS) scheme based on the total number of farms of each of the 120 counties in Kentucky. The survey and subsequent data analysis will seek to assess (1) the prevalence of ATVs and their utilization for work and leisure on Kentucky farms; (2) ATV-related injuries among members of Kentucky farm households; (3) farmers’ perceived risks of operating ATVs on the farm; (4) associations between factors related to riding ATVs, including riding behavior, risk taking propensity, farm type, attitudes toward ATV policy, and ATV-related injury status.
Findings from this study are expected to inform injury prevention practitioners and the agricultural community about ATV utilization on farms. This study has the potential to assist in developing targeted intervention programs and policy changes.
The principal investigator for this feasibility project is Jessica Wilson, MSN, ARNP, a doctoral student in the UK College of Nursing. She is advised by Dr. Deborah Reed (Associate Professor of Nursing and Chair of Ms. Wilson’s dissertation committee); Dr. James Helkamp, Director of the West Virginia Injury Control Research Center; Dr. Steven Browning, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the UK College of Public Health; and Dr. Ellen Hahn, Professor of Nursing and a faculty associate of the UK Prevention Research Center. Drs. Hahn and Browning also serve with Dr. Reed on Ms. Wilson’s dissertation committee.