Citation

Castillo D, Rodriguez R. Am. J. Ind. Med. 1997; 31(5): 609-618.

Affiliation

Division of Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9099364

Abstract

The aging of the U.S. workforce highlights the need to address issues affecting older workers specifically. Telephone surveys were conducted with injured workers identified through a surveillance system based in a sample of emergency departments in the United States. The 176 interviewed cases correspond to a national estimate of 8,263 (s.e. = 1,258) injuries to workers aged 63 years and older during May 15-September 30, 1993. Five percent reported limitations in the types or amount of work they could perform prior to the injury. Ninety-four percent reported familiarity with the task resulting in injury. Fifty-one percent returned to work without missing any workdays; however, 69% required return visits to a health care provider. Thirty-four percent reported receiving training in injury prevention. Twenty percent of the injured workers were self-employed and 43% worked for small businesses. Data from this study provide insight into routinely collected statistics and have implications for future research and intervention efforts.

Language: en