Initial return to work and long-term employment patterns: Associations with work-related permanent impairment and with participation in workers’ compensation-based return-to-work programs

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Ind Med
• Personal Author:
  Sears, Jeanne M. ; Fulton-Kehoe, Deborah ; Hogg-Johnson, Sheilah
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Roughly 10% of injured workers experience work injuries that result in permanent impairment and a permanent partial disability (PPD) award. This study aimed to characterize and quantify long-term employment outcomes for injured workers, by degree of whole body impairment (WBI) and by participation in several workers’ compensation (WC)-based return-to-work (RTW) programs.
  
  Methods:
  
  A retrospective cohort of 43,968 Washington State workers was followed for up to 10 years after WC claim closure (2009-2017). Degree of impairment was classified as: (1) no PPD award, (2) PPD award with WBI <10%, or (3) PPD award with WBI ≥10%. State wage files were used to construct employment outcomes for regression modeling: (1) time to first RTW, (2) time to first RTW interruption, (3) RTW volatility, and (4) employment gaps.
  
  Results:
  
  Wage patterns and employment outcomes differed significantly by degree of impairment. Compared to other workers, workers with WBI ≥10% had delayed RTW, shorter average times to first RTW interruption, and higher rates of both RTW interruptions and quarters without wages. Time to first RTW averaged over a year, increasing with degree of impairment. About 9% overall—and 27% of workers with ≥10% WBI—had no observed wages after claim closure. In adjusted models, workers with WBI ≥10% had significantly poorer employment outcomes, compared to workers with no PPD award (P<.001).
  
  Conclusions:
  
  State wage files provide an efficient approach to identifying RTW patterns. Workers with permanent impairment were at substantially higher risk of poor employment outcomes. WC-based RTW programs may promote better employment outcomes.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Aged Article Disability Evaluation Employment Female Functional Comorbidity Index Humans Male Middle Aged Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Permanent Impairment Permanent Partial Disability Regression Analysis Retrospective Studies Return To Work Salaries And Fringe Benefits Unemployment Vocational Rehabilitation Washington Workers' Compensation Workers’ Compensation Young Adult

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• Source:
  Am J Ind Med. 64(5):323-337
• Pubmed ID:
  33616241
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8046727
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R21 OH011355/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R21OH011355/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  64
• Issue:
  5
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:87b4a3ed39b86a8107f901ecac1f789457b90f4ba6d79e843744e9fe9b0dfa3e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/105278/cdc_105278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 390.45 KB ]