The study of psychosocial risk among dairy farmers at selected dairy farms in Negeri Sembilan

Recently, concern has increased globally over dairy farmers’ mental health issues. This study aims to identify dairy farmers' psychosocial status and risk factors. Two selected dairy farms participated in this study, with total participants 28 dairy farmers (20 participants from Dairy Farm A and 8 participants from Dairy Farm B), and the prevalence of psychosocial risk was assessed using Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Environment & Occupation Likelihood Scale on Workers Mental Health Status (LEOs). The association of mental health status with the working environment was analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation and Likelihood of Environment & Occupation Mental Health Hazard Hierarchy matrix (MH3) to identify which final color code obtained by the participant that should be prioritized for mental health action. Farmers in Dairy Farm B were identified to have high subscale psychological symptoms and an association of mental health issues with their working environment. Farmers on this farm are also more likely to require high priority for mental health action towards occupation and environment risk compared to farmers in Dairy Farm A. High job demand, long working hours and workplace atmosphere were related to psychosocial risk and possibly the contributing factors that affect the mental health of the dairy farmers. This research is crucial in identifying risk factors that affect dairy farmers' mental health issues and outlining possible suggestions to prevent the risk from occurring.