Contrasting patterns of care for musculoskeletal disorders and injuries of the upper extremity and knee through workers' compensation and private health care insurance among union carpenters in Washington State, 1989 to 2008

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adams D ; Cameron W ; Kucera KL ; Lipscomb HJ ; Schoenfisch AL ; Silverstein BA
• Description:
  Background: Musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders (MSDIs) are common reasons for visits to medical providers in the general population and they are common work-related complaints. Prior reports raise concerns as to whether declines in workers' compensation (WC) rates represent true improvement in occupational health and safety or shifting of care to other payment systems. Methods: By linking administrative records, we compared patterns of WC claims and private health care utilization for disorders of the upper extremity (UE) and knee among a large cohort of union carpenters over a 20-year period. Results: As WC claim rates declined, private health care utilization increased. The increase was muted somewhat but sustained when adjusting for other patterns of health care utilization. Conclusions: Findings suggest the decline of WC claim rates do not solely represent improved occupational safety in this population, but also a considerable shifting of care to their private insurance coverage over time. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Delivery Of Health Care Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Construction Care-shifting Cohort Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Cost-shifting Health-care Health Care Utilization Health Insurance Injuries Longitudinal Medical-care Medical-treatment Musculoskeletal Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Work-environment Workers Workers' Compensation

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046148
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2015 Sep; 58(9):955-963
• Contact Point Address:
  Hester J. Lipscomb, Box 3834, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
• Email:
  Hester.lipscomb@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20150131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1e0b11cd51e6499708ace0f325d862937c5f2ca860eb85f2ad5a57fa443ce103529437ab545e83b6ff4b9f25ab5a379dd627eb96b041713487436d21629fd8e9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201282/cdc_201282_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 510.17 KB ]