Study Examines Economic Impact of Back Pain for Workers’ Compensation Patients

While most injured workers who make a workers’ compensation claim involving neck pain don’t file an additional claim during the next two years, 14.2 percent report experiencing multiple episodes of work absenteeism and accrue 40.4 percent of all lost-time days, according to a report published in Spine.

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Researchers studied 5,761 injured workers who submitted lost-time claims to the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in 1997 and 1998. The claims were followed for two years.

The median cumulative time-on-benefits was 13 days, and it was shorter for male and younger workers than female and older workers. The median time on benefits for claimants with a single episode of work absenteeism was 11 days, and the median time on benefits for claimants with multiple episodes was longer on the first episode than single episode workers. The worker’s age was positively associated with longer time-on-benefits for workers with a single episode of work absenteeism.

Read the abstract about worker absenteeism for back pain.

Related Articles on Workers’ Compensation:
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Expectations Among Workers’ Compensation Patients for Back Pain Recovery Could Affect Outcomes

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