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Background: Falling is a significant cause of occupational injuries and fatalities among farmers, and falling from trees is one of the most common causes of injury resulting in a high number of visits to health centers. Despite this, there is limited evidence on the factors associated with falling from walnut trees. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors that contribute to falling from walnut trees from the perspective of farmers and farmworkers.Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 farmers and farmworkers who had experienced falling from walnut trees as recorded in the National Accidents Record Program from September to October 2017 in Tuyserkan county, Iran. Participants were selected through purposive sampling. Moreover, data rigor was ensured through participant and external checks. All interviews were recorded and analyzed using content analysis methods.Results: Data analysis led to the extraction of six themes, including psychological factors, physical factors, behavioral and habitual factors, economic factors, factors related to walnut trees, and atmospheric agents, along with 18 subthemes for behavioral, human, and environmental factors.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that with appropriate interventions and training, farmers and farmworkers can be guided and assisted so as to prevent the occurrence of falling from walnut trees. In addition to educational interventions, health promotion measures such as providing safety equipment and insurance coverage can be essential in reducing injuries.

Background and Objectives: Fall is one of the main reasons for serious injuries in workplaces. Protective measures are not frequently used by farmers and farm workers. In Iran, there are no adequate data in recognizing the various effective factors of falls from height in the agricultural sector. Thus, we used the PRECEDE model to recognize causes and factors which can affect the acceptance of the protective measures for the prevention of fall from the walnut tree. Materials and Methods: From July until November 2018, a cross-sectional research was conducted in Tuyserkan County in the west of Iran among 222 farm workers and farmers from 12 villages. A questionnaire was developed to measure demographic features, history of injuries, and constructs recommended in the PRECEDE model. Data were gathered by face-to-face interviews. Results: Predisposing factors (β =0.348, t = 5.116), enabling factors (β =0.131, t = 3.672), and reinforcing factors (β =0.164, t = 2.128) had a positive impact on protective measures, with an explained variance of 35.3%. In this study, the goodness-of-fit value was obtained as 0.455, indicating an excellent overall fit of the model to the data. Conclusions: The results of this research recognized the causes of protective measures among farmers and farm workers. Our findings suggest that the PRECEDE model could help as a guide for developing a more effective intervention for the prevention of fall from the walnut tree.

Background: Evidence regarding the epidemiological characteristics and the mechanisms of trauma related to falling from walnut tree are limited in Iran. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the pattern of trauma related to falling from walnut tree as an occupational injury in Tuyserkan in the west of Iran in 2017. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all the patients admitted in Vali-Asr Hospital for injuries caused by falling from walnut trees during the harvest for walnuts (from September to October 2017) were reviewed. The data were collected by a checklist including the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients obtained from the hospital records. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics by the STATA software version 12. Results: During the study, a total of 52 injured cases were registered in Vali-Asr Hospital. All patients were male, and 71.2% of them were rural dwellers. Falls were more concentrated in Friday (27%) and peaked in mid-days (19.2% of cases). Branch breaking was the common cause of falling in 30 (57.7%) injured cases. Nearly 70% (n = 36) of the cases were transferred to the trauma center by the emergency services. Among injured patients, 4 patients (7.7%) died. Overweight patients had a 7.75-fold higher chance of death or handicap compared to underweight patients (P = 0.09). Conclusion: Most of the cases were young men from rural areas who were economically important groups. High air temperature in mid-day time is in related to increase in the probability of falling; thus, it should be advised not to work at this time. A considerable proportion of injured patients were carried by family members to the hospital. Therefore, the general awareness that an injured person must be transferred to the hospital by the emergency medical services for the reduction of the severity of trauma is necessary.