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. 2012 Sep;54(9):1086-91.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3182636e29.

Incidence and cost of depression after occupational injury

Abay Asfaw  1 , Kerry Souza
Affiliations

Incidence and cost of depression after occupational injury

Abay Asfaw et al. J Occup Environ Med. 2012 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined if injured workers were more likely than noninjured workers to be treated for depression after an occupational injury and estimated the cost paid by group medical insurance.

Method: Nearly 367,900 injured and noninjured workers were drawn from the 2005 Thomson Reuters MarketScan data. Descriptive, logistic, and two-part model regression analyses were used.

Results: The odds of injured workers being treated for depression within the study period were 45% higher than those of noninjured workers (95% confidence interval, 1.17-1.78). The unconditional average cost of outpatient depression treatment was 63% higher for injured workers than for noninjured workers.

Conclusions: Injured workers were more likely than noninjured workers to suffer from depression during the study period. Consequently, additional costs are incurred for treating injured workers' depression; these costs were not covered by the workers' compensation system.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Sample selection procedure.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Incidence of outpatient depression visit within 3 months.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Incidence of outpatient depression by sex.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Probability of being treated for outpatient depression within 3 months after injury.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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