Findings from Brisbane Private Hospital Broaden Understanding of Occupational Medicine (Perspectives from Employers, Insurers, Lawyers and Healthcare…

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Findings from Brisbane Private Hospital Broaden Understanding of Occupational Medicine (Perspectives from Employers, Insurers, Lawyers and Healthcare Providers on Factors that Influence Workers' Return-to-Work Following Surgery for ...)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Fresh data on Health and Medicine - Occupational Medicine are presented in a new report. According to news reporting out of Brisbane, Australia, by VerticalNews editors, research stated, "Return-to-work (RTW) stakeholders have varied roles and may therefore hold their own perspectives regarding factors that may influence outcomes. This study aimed to determine stakeholders' perspectives on factors influencing RTW following surgery for non-traumatic upper extremity conditions."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Brisbane Private Hospital, "A questionnaire was distributed to RTW stakeholders via gatekeeper organizations. Stakeholders rated 50 potential prognostic factors from 'not' to 'extremely' influential. Data were dichotomized to establish stakeholders' level of agreement. Disagreements between stakeholder groups were analyzed using chi (2). The relationship between stakeholder demographic variables and rating of a factor was determined via regression analysis. One thousand and eleven stakeholders completed the survey: healthcare providers (77.8 %); employer representatives (12.2 %); insurer representatives (6.8 %); and lawyers (3.2 %). Factors with the highest stakeholder agreement for influencing RTW were: self-efficacy (92.2 %); post-operative psychological status (91.8 %); supportive employer/supervisor (91.4 %); employer's willingness to accommodate job modifications (90.7 %); worker's recovery expectations (88.3 %); mood disorder diagnosis (86.6 %); post-operative pain level (86.4 %); and whether the job can be modified (86.3 %). Disagreements between stakeholder groups were found for 19 (36 %) factors. The strongest disagreements were for: age; gender; obesity; doctor's RTW recommendation; and presence of a RTW coordinator. Respondents' characteristics (e.g., age, workers' compensation jurisdiction, work experience, stakeholder group) were associated with factor rating. The factors stakeholders rated as having the greatest influence on RTW were predominately psychosocial and modifiable."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "These variables should be the focus of future research to determine prognostic factors for RTW for workers with upper extremity conditions, and to develop effective RTW interventions."

For more information on this research see: Perspectives from Employers, Insurers, Lawyers and Healthcare Providers on Factors that Influence Workers' Return-to-Work Following Surgery for Non-Traumatic Upper Extremity Conditions. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2017;27(3):343-358. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation can be contacted at: Springer, Plenum Publishers, 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013, USA. (Springer - www.springer.com; Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation - www.springerlink.com/content/1053-0487/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting S.E. Peters, Brisbane Private Hosp, Brisbane Hand & Upper Limb Res Inst, Brisbane, Qld, Australia. Additional authors for this research include M.W. Coppieters, M. Ross and V. Johnston.

Keywords for this news article include: Brisbane, Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Occupational Medicine, Health and Medicine, Surgery, Brisbane Private Hospital.