Department of Social Medicine (Dr Rudbeck); and Department of Occupational Medicine (Dr Johansen, Dr Omland), Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics of claimants reporting an occupational injury associated with disability benefits for income independently granted by the municipality the subsequent year.
METHOD: Multivariate logistic regression was used on self-reported data and register data. Primary outcome was long-term disability benefits.
RESULTS: We found that perceived low work ability, high emotional stress, perceived low health, and expected recognition increased the risk of disability benefits. Work ability was the most influential factor. Work ability of responders on benefits was 2.40 [2.23 to 2.58] (scale 1 to 10-low to high). Responders with recognized claims differed only little in characteristics regarding benefits. Responders with ongoing claims had highest risk (18.48%) of benefits despite few health differences.
CONCLUSIONS: Low perceived work ability was characteristic; health and social issues explained only little of the differences in long-term benefits according to decision of workers' compensation system.