Is depression a risk factor for meatpacking injuries?

Background: While meatpacking is a physically demanding industry, the effect of depression on risks for injury has not been studied.

Objective: To assess depressive disorders (major depression and dysthymia) using a validated screening tool administered to injured and uninjured meatpacking workers in two Midwestern plants.

Methods: Matched case-control analyses were conducted among 134 workers to evaluate the association between depressive disorder and the occurrence of laceration injury.

Results: Of the 268 workers, 13.8% screened positive for depressive disorder, whereas the general population prevalence estimate for depressive disorder using the same tool was 3.4% . Depressive disorder was not associated with an increased risk for injury; 17% of cases who experienced a laceration injury and 15% of uninjured controls reported depressive disorder (OR 0.81, 95% CI: 0.39-1.69).

Conclusions: Evaluation of depression causes among meatpacking workers is needed to elucidate prevention and treatment strategies.