@article{ref1,
title="Regional differences in time off work after injury: a comparison of Australian states and territories within a single workers' compensation system",
journal="Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation",
year="2021",
author="Lane, Tyler J. and Collie, Alex and Gray, Shannon and Sheehan, Luke",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="PURPOSE Time off work after workplace injury varies by compensation system. While often attributed to features of the compensation system, unaccounted regional  factors may drive much of the effect. In this study, we compare disability durations  by state and territory of residence within a single national workers' compensation  system. Large differences would indicate that factors other than compensation system  settings are responsible for system effects observed in previous studies. <br><br>METHODS We  applied crude and adjusted Cox proportional hazards models to compare disability  durations by state and territory of residence. Confounders included factors known to  influence disability duration. Durations were left-censored at two weeks and  right-censored at 104 weeks. <br><br>RESULTS We analysed N = 31,641 claims. In both crude  and adjusted models, three of the seven states and territories significantly  differed from the reference group, New South Wales. However, two of the three were  different between crude and adjusted models. Regional effects were relatively small  compared to other factors including insurer type, age, and type of injury. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS Regional factors influence disability duration, which persist with  adjustment for demographic, work, insurer type, and injury confounders. However, the  effects are inconsistently significant and fairly small, especially when compared to  the effect of confounders and system effects found in previous studies. Regional  factors likely only account for a small share of the difference in disability  duration between compensation systems.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1053-0487",
doi="10.1007/s10926-020-09947-2",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09947-2"
}