Medical Care Utilization for Work-Related Injuries in the United States 2002–2006

Objective: To examine racial-ethnic/gender differences in the odds of injury and in the odds of seeking medical treatment among workers in the United States. Methods: Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of having a work injury and the odds of seeking medical treatment for these...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical care 2010-07, Vol.48 (7), p.645-651
Main Authors: Berdahl, Terceira A., Zodet, Marc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Occupational - statistics & numerical data
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Black or African American
Black people
Black People - statistics & numerical data
Construction industries
Female
Health care industry
Health insurance
Health Services - statistics & numerical data
Health Status Disparities
Healthcare Disparities - statistics & numerical data
Hispanic or Latino - statistics & numerical data
Hispanics
Humans
Insurance, Health - statistics & numerical data
Logistic Models
Male
Medical treatment
Men
Middle Aged
Modeling
Occupational accidents
Occupations
Physical trauma
Polls & surveys
Racial Groups - statistics & numerical data
Regression analysis
Sex Factors
Uninsured people
United States - epidemiology
White people
White People - statistics & numerical data
Workplace diversity
Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Objective: To examine racial-ethnic/gender differences in the odds of injury and in the odds of seeking medical treatment among workers in the United States. Methods: Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of having a work injury and the odds of seeking medical treatment for these injuries in a sample of non-Latino Black, Latino, and non-Latino white workers from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2002–2006). Results: Significant variation in the odds of injury was observed across racial-ethnic/gender groups. Although race-gender groups had significant variation in the odds of experiencing a work injury, we found few differences in treatment seeking. Among the 6 subgroups, we found that white women were significantly less likely to report an injury and significantly more likely to seek treatment when injured. Having health insurance played a key role in utilization among injured workers. The odds of seeking treatment were 33% lower for uninsured workers compared with those with private insurance. Publicly insured workers were no different from privately insured workers. Conclusions: Our study sheds light on current trends in work injuries and associated medical care utilization among a nationally representative sample of workers.
ISSN:0025-7079
1537-1948
1537-1948
DOI:10.1097/MLR.0b013e3181dbdc1c