Citation

Tait RC, Chibnall JT. Psychol. Inj. Law 2016; 9(1): 16-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12207-015-9243-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Workers' compensation systems represent naturalistic settings that often are perceived as unjust by the injured workers for which such systems were developed. This study examined the role of dissatisfaction with medical care and employer treatment on disability outcomes among a cohort of workers who had sustained low back injuries. A race-stratified sample of 358 workers (171 African-Americans, 203 Caucasians) with first incident low back pain was evaluated 21 months and again at 72 months after claim settlement. Evaluation included data related to demographics, socioeconomic factors, injury severity, claim settlement, satisfaction with workers' compensation (WC) processes, and disability status. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to predict disability status (no disability vs. early disability vs. late disability) at each of the two time points. Analyses revealed contributions of multiple variables to early disability, including unique variance related to dissatisfaction with medical care and treatment by the employer. At 72 months, only demographic factors (age, race) and the receipt of temporary total disability (TTD) after injury predicted late disability.

RESULTS are discussed relative to the contribution of injustice perceptions and systemic factors; directions for future research are proposed.

Language: en