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Impact of COVID-19 on Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Among Nursing Care Facility Workers: Analysis of California Workers’ Compensation Data, 2019–2021



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  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic greatly affected healthcare workers, both physically and psychologically, by increasing their workload and stress. This may also have increased their risk of occupational injuries. This study analyzed workers' compensation (WC) claims among California nursing care facility workers during 2019-2021, to assess the impact of the pandemic on occupational injury risk. Methods: This study used data from the California Workers' Compensation Information System. WC claims in prepandemic and pandemic periods were described and compared between nursing care facilities and other settings. Nursing facility cases were described by demographic, job, and injury characteristics. Results: In 2019-2021, we identified 41,134 claims as nursing facility cases in California. Annual claims increased by 64.6% from 2019 to 2020 and then decreased in 2021, returning to levels similar to pre-COVID. In contrast, non-healthcare settings had decreases in claims during the pandemic. COVID-related claims accounted for 50.5% of claims in nursing facilities in 2020-2021; this proportion was much higher compared with other healthcare (35.7%) or nonhealthcare settings (14.3%). Non-COVID claims decreased during the pandemic but mental disorder or stress claims increased in nursing facilities, particularly in 2020 (+42.5%). Conclusions: Our findings show that nursing care facilities were more severely affected by the pandemic than other settings. We did not find evidence of an increased risk of occupational injuries during the pandemic, except for increased claims for stress or mental disorders. Our findings indicate a clear need to address psychological stress and mental health among nursing facility workers during a pandemic. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    0271-3586
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Grant
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Volume:
    66
  • Issue:
    11
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20069787
  • Citation:
    Am J Ind Med 2023 Nov; 66(11):965-976
  • Contact Point Address:
    Soo-Jeong Lee, RN, PhD, Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, N505, Box 0608, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
  • Email:
    soo-jeong.lee@ucsf.edu
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2024
  • Performing Organization:
    University of California, Berkeley
  • Peer Reviewed:
    True
  • Start Date:
    20050701
  • Source Full Name:
    American Journal of Industrial Medicine
  • End Date:
    20250630
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:4f2664ae32dd5836fff425247574dafda7b3fa24451fe4a2a0ef8d7b2b9ea3a7c41220f023b318980d07f654bf8e9aa09aa8130796381627d72b6cab937572f2
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.21 MB ]
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