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Perceived Discrimination and Injury at Work: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Latino Day Laborers

  • Original Paper
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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Given the stigma of their undocumented status and their high prevalence of workplace injury, understanding the impact of discrimination on Latino day laborers (LDLs) is a critical public health issue.

Methods

We surveyed LDLs (N = 149) and assessed their sociodemographics, experiences of and perceived reasons for discrimination, and work-related injury. A logistic regression examined the association between discrimination and injury, adjusting for sociodemographics. Next, Chi-square tests identified perceived reasons for discrimination associated with injury which were then included in a second logistic regression to test their association with injury, adjusting for discrimination and sociodemographics.

Results

Participants reported a work-related injury (42%) and experiences of discrimination (81%). Discrimination was associated with injury in the first model (aOR = 2.25, p = 0.049), and discrimination attributed to immigration status was associated with injury in the second model (aOR = 5.04, p = 0.019).

Discussion

Injury prevention programs should account for perceived mistreatment to reduce LDL risk for injury at work.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank the Latino day laborers and other members of our Community Advisory Board for their valuable advice throughout the study.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (1R01MD012928; PI Fernandez-Esquer). Lynn N. Ibekwe, PhD, MPH was supported through a predoctoral fellowship (T32CA057712: Cancer Prevention and Control Research Training and Career Development Program; MPI Mullen, Fernandez, Vernon) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health and partially supported by the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research at UTHealth School of Public Health. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the National Cancer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    Lynn N. Ibekwe, John S. Atkinson, Yesmel A. King, Maria L. Rangel & Maria Eugenia Fernández-Esquer

  2. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Lynn N. Ibekwe

  3. Kraft Center for Community Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA

    Lynn N. Ibekwe

  4. Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    Rosalia Guerrero-Luera

  5. Office of Outreach and Health Disparities, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Maria L. Rangel

Authors
  1. Lynn N. Ibekwe
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  2. John S. Atkinson
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  3. Rosalia Guerrero-Luera
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  4. Yesmel A. King
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  6. Maria Eugenia Fernández-Esquer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lynn N. Ibekwe.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

This study received approval from the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (Study HSC-SPH-18–0337). All participants provided informed consent to participate in the study.

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Ibekwe, L.N., Atkinson, J.S., Guerrero-Luera, R. et al. Perceived Discrimination and Injury at Work: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Latino Day Laborers. J Immigrant Minority Health 24, 987–995 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01329-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01329-5

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