Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Rural Remote Health. 2020 Jan;20(1):5530. doi: 10.22605/RRH5530. Epub 2020 Jan 7.
Despite some attention paid to farm stress in the popular press, recent Canadian research examining the mental wellbeing of farming populations relative to other rural dwellers is sparse. International research on the topic has shown inconsistent findings and has mainly focused on men. The objective of the present study was to examine the correlates of mental health among rural Saskatchewan women and men, positioning farm/non-farm residence as a main explanatory variable, and depression and binge drinking as measures of mental health.
The cross-sectional sample consisted of 1701 women (47.8% farm) and 1700 men (53.3% farm) who participated in the 2014 phase of the Saskatchewan Rural Health Study, a prospective cohort study primarily examining the respiratory health of rural people in the southern part of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Data were collected using mailed self-report questionnaires and included measures of mental health assessing health professional diagnosed depression and binge drinking, in addition to a broad array of demographic characteristics, stressors and resources. Multiple logistic regression was the primary method of analysis; generalized estimating equations were utilized to account for household clustering. All analyses were conducted separately for women and men and by mental health indicator.
Farm/non-farm residence was related to depression but only under particular circumstances, which in turn differed by gender. In women, non-farm residents with two or more chronic conditions reported more depression than their farm counterparts (odds ratio (OR)=2.62; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.28-5.36); non-farm men with secondary school education reported greater depression than farm-dwelling men (OR=2.93; 95%CI 1.31-6.59). The remaining correlates of depression were generally consistent with previous research in rural populations, including younger age, being non-partnered (men only), higher stress, greater financial strain (women only) and lower social support (women only). Binge drinking was significantly elevated in non-farm women (OR=1.68; 95%CI 1.21-2.33) and non-farm men (OR=1.70; 95%CI 1.33-2.17) compared to the farming population. Among women only, not having access to a regular family doctor/nurse practitioner was associated with an increased likelihood of binge drinking (OR=2.05; 95%CI 1.13-3.71) compared to women perceiving better access.
The present study is one of very few recently published quantitative studies of the correlates of mental health among farm and non-farm adults in rural Canada. The findings suggest that non-farm dwellers in rural Saskatchewan may be more vulnerable to compromised mental health than their farming counterparts. Additional research employing a longitudinal design and enhanced measurement is required to confirm or refute these findings.
尽管大众媒体对农场压力有所关注，但最近加拿大关于农业人口心理健康的研究相对其他农村居民而言仍很匮乏。国际上对这一主题的研究结果不一致，主要集中在男性身上。本研究的目的是检验萨斯喀彻温省农村女性和男性的心理健康相关因素，将农场/非农场居住作为主要解释变量，并将抑郁和狂饮作为心理健康的衡量标准。
本横断面研究的样本包括 1701 名女性（47.8%来自农场）和 1700 名男性（53.3%来自农场），他们参加了 2014 年萨斯喀彻温省农村健康研究的第四阶段，这是一项主要研究加拿大萨斯喀彻温省南部农村地区人口呼吸健康的前瞻性队列研究。数据通过邮寄自填问卷收集，包括评估心理健康的指标，评估有心理健康专家诊断的抑郁症和狂饮，以及广泛的人口统计学特征、压力源和资源。主要分析方法为多元逻辑回归；利用广义估计方程来解释家庭聚类。所有分析均针对女性和男性以及心理健康指标分别进行。
农场/非农场居住与抑郁有关，但仅在特定情况下如此，而这种情况又因性别而异。在女性中，有两种或两种以上慢性疾病的非农场居民比农场居民报告的抑郁程度更高（比值比（OR）=2.62；95%置信区间（CI）1.28-5.36）；中学学历的非农场男性比农场男性报告的抑郁程度更高（OR=2.93；95%CI 1.31-6.59）。抑郁的其他相关因素通常与农村人口的先前研究一致，包括年龄较小、未婚（仅男性）、压力较大、经济压力较大（仅女性）和社会支持较低（仅女性）。非农场女性（OR=1.68；95%CI 1.21-2.33）和非农场男性（OR=1.70；95%CI 1.33-2.17）的狂饮率明显高于农场人群。仅在女性中，与感知到更好的获取途径相比，无法获得常规家庭医生/护士从业者的女性（OR=2.05；95%CI 1.13-3.71）更有可能狂饮。
本研究是最近为数不多的对加拿大农村地区农场和非农场成年人心理健康相关因素进行的定量研究之一。研究结果表明，萨斯喀彻温省农村地区的非农场居民的心理健康可能比农场居民更脆弱。需要进行采用纵向设计和增强测量的进一步研究来证实或反驳这些发现。
