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. 2017 Feb 7:10:7-16.
doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S119479. eCollection 2017.

Injured workers' perception of loss and gain in the return to work process

Hon Sun Lai  1 , Grace Py Szeto  2 , Chetwyn Ch Chan  3
Affiliations

Injured workers' perception of loss and gain in the return to work process

Hon Sun Lai et al. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. .

Abstract

When a worker is injured at work, he has to face a tough decision-making process about when and how to return to work (RTW). This study tests how the prospect theory can be applied to influence the injured workers' perceptions about this important choice. One hundred forty-one injured workers were presented with wage- and pain-related information in four different message framing (negatively or positively) and precision (smaller or larger number) conditions. After exposure to the specific combination of this wage and pain information, the participants were asked to express intentions to RTW in terms of perceived chance, confidence, and anticipated sick leave duration. When asked to predict their RTW outcome, 101 participants (72.3%) responded favorably, whereas only 40 (27.7%) indicated an expectation for staying on sick leave. The present results did not show significant differences in the participants' responses to the positively and negatively framed information about wage and pain. However, it was noted that the control group that was presented with positive framing for both "wage" and "pain" information showed higher scores in expectation and confidence for RTW, whereas the Ambivalent Group that had both negative messages showed lower scores. Seventy-nine participants who had ≥60% perceived improvement in condition were selected for further analysis, and those who were presented with "wage loss" information rated significantly higher perceived chance of RTW than those in the "pain gain" group. More in-depth investigation is warranted on this topic, with a larger sample of injured workers to investigate the effects of message framing on the decision-making process about RTW.

Keywords: compensation; injury; rehabilitation; wages.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study design showing the combination of positive and negative framing arrangements in the 4 experimental groups: 1. pain gain group, 2. wage loss group, 3. ambivalent group, and 4. control group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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