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

• Personal Author:
  Fulton-Kehoe D ; Hogg-Johnson S ; Sears JM
• 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 the 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 were 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 the 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 the 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 < 0.001). 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. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cohort Studies Morbidity Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Functional Comorbidity Index Cohort Studies Data Processing Disability Evaluation Disabled Workers Information Systems Injuries Long Term Study Morbidity Rates Occupational Injuries Occupations Permanent Impairment Permanent Partial Disability Regression Analysis Return To Work Risk Analysis Risk Factors Unemployment Vocational Rehabilitation Workers Workers' Compensation Workers Compensation Work Intervals Work Schedules

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  323-337
• Volume:
  64
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062106
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2021 May; 64(5):323-337
• Contact Point Address:
  Jeanne M. Sears, Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Box 357660, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
• Email:
  jeannes@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20180901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20200831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1948e2ac4dc0549d27403e8af100e675990b5c6a08dd6695afa0d3ecd187573568728e5ade17bef620c96e8f25cd13252ef4f92d67e00cd894e3b71bc1366095
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225419/cdc_225419_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 896.75 KB ]