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. 2019 Jul;76(7):471-478.
doi: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105621. Epub 2019 May 24.

Assault predicts time away from work after claims for work-related mild traumatic brain injury

Reema Shafi  1 , Peter M Smith  2   3 , Angela Colantonio  4   5
Affiliations

Assault predicts time away from work after claims for work-related mild traumatic brain injury

Reema Shafi et al. Occup Environ Med. 2019 Jul.

Abstract

Introduction: Workplace violence carries a substantial economic loss burden. Up to 10% of all traumatic brain injury (TBI) admissions result from physical assault. There remains a paucity of research on assault as a mechanism of injury, taking into account sex, and its association with work re-entry.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterise, by sex, the sample of workers who had sustained a work-related mild TBI (wr-mTBI) and to assess the independent influence of assault, as a mechanism of injury, on time away from work.

Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort of workers' compensation claimants in Australia (n=3129) who had sustained a wr-mTBI was used for this study. A multivariable logistic regression analysis assessed whether workers who had sustained wr-mTBI as a result of assault (wr-mTBI-assault) were more likely to claim time off work compared with workers who had sustained a wr-mTBI due to other mechanisms.

Results: Among claimants who sustained a wr-mTBI, 9% were as a result of assault. The distribution of demographic and vocational variables differed between the wr-mTBI-assault, and not due to assault, both in the full sample, and separately for men and women. After controlling for potential confounding factors, workers who sustained wr-mTBI-assault, compared with other mechanisms, were more likely to take days off work (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.53 to 2.99) within a 3-month timeframe.

Conclusion: The results have policy-related implications. Sex-specific and workplace-specific prevention strategies need to be considered and provisions to support return-to-work and well-being within this vulnerable cohort should be examined.

Keywords: assault; mild traumatic brain injury; sex-specific differences; work-related TBI.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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