Orkin Aaron M, Lay Morgan, McLaughlin Janet, Schwandt Michael, Cole Donald
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
Health Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ont.
CMAJ Open. 2014 Jul 22;2(3):E192-8. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20140014. eCollection 2014 Jul.
Approximately 40 000 migrant farm workers are employed annually in Canada through temporary foreign worker programs. Workers experiencing health conditions that prevent ongoing work are normally repatriated to their home country, which raises concerns about human rights and health equity. In this study, we present data on the reasons for medical repatriation of migrant farm workers in Ontario.
In this retrospective descriptive study, we examined medical repatriation data from Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services, a non-profit corporation managing the contracts of more than 15 000 migrant farm workers in Ontario annually. We extracted repatriation and demographic data for workers from 2001-2011. Physician volunteers used a validated system to code the reported reasons for medical repatriation. We conducted descriptive analyses of the dominant reasons for repatriation and rates of repatriation.
During 2001-2011, 787 repatriations occurred among 170 315 migrant farm workers arriving in Ontario (4.62 repatriations per 1000 workers). More than two-thirds of repatriated workers were aged 30-49 years. Migrant farm workers were most frequently repatriated for medical or surgical reasons (41.3%) and external injuries including poisoning (25.5%).
This study provides quantitative health data related to a unique and vulnerable occupational group. Our findings reinforce existing knowledge regarding occupational hazards and health conditions among migrant farm workers. Medical repatriation of migrant farm workers merits further examination as a global health equity concern.
加拿大每年通过临时外国工人计划雇佣约40000名流动农场工人。出现健康状况而无法继续工作的工人通常会被遣返回国，这引发了对人权和健康公平性的担忧。在本研究中，我们展示了安大略省流动农场工人医疗遣返原因的数据。
在这项回顾性描述性研究中，我们检查了外国农业资源管理服务公司的医疗遣返数据，该公司是一家非营利性公司，每年管理安大略省15000多名流动农场工人的合同。我们提取了2001年至2011年工人的遣返和人口统计数据。医生志愿者使用经过验证的系统对报告的医疗遣返原因进行编码。我们对遣返的主要原因和遣返率进行了描述性分析。
在2001年至2011年期间，抵达安大略省的170315名流动农场工人中有787人被遣返（每1000名工人中有4.62人被遣返）。超过三分之二被遣返的工人年龄在30至49岁之间。流动农场工人最常因医疗或手术原因（41.3%）以及包括中毒在内的外伤（25.5%）而被遣返。
本研究提供了与一个独特且脆弱的职业群体相关的定量健康数据。我们的研究结果强化了关于流动农场工人职业危害和健康状况的现有知识。流动农场工人的医疗遣返作为一个全球健康公平问题值得进一步研究。
