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. 2023 Sep 18;38(37):e284.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e284.

Self-Esteem Trajectories After Occupational Injuries and Diseases and Their Relation to Changes in Subjective Health: Result From the Panel Study of Workers' Compensation Insurance (PSWCI)

Seong-Uk Baek  1   2   3 , Won-Tae Lee  1   2   4 , Min-Seok Kim  1   2   4 , Myeong-Hun Lim  1   2   4 , Jin-Ha Yoon  2   4   5 , Jong-Uk Won  1   2   6
Affiliations

Self-Esteem Trajectories After Occupational Injuries and Diseases and Their Relation to Changes in Subjective Health: Result From the Panel Study of Workers' Compensation Insurance (PSWCI)

Seong-Uk Baek et al. J Korean Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Occupational injuries and diseases are life events that significantly impact an individuals' identity. In this study, we examined the trajectories of self-esteem among victims of occupational injury and disease and their relation to health.

Methods: The Panel Study of Workers' Compensation Insurance conducted annual follow-ups on workers who had experienced occupational injury or disease. A total of 2,000 participants, who had completed medical care, were followed from 2013 to 2017. Growth mixture modeling was utilized to identify latent classes in the self-esteem trajectory. Additionally, logistic regressions were conducted to explore the association between trajectory membership, baseline predictors, and outcomes.

Results: Three distinct trajectory classes were identified. Total 65.8% of the samples (n = 1,316) followed an increasing self-esteem trajectory, while 31.1% (n = 623) exhibited a constant trajectory, and 3.1% (n = 61) showed a decreasing trajectory. Individuals with an increasing trajectory were more likely to have a higher educational attainment (odds ratio [OR], 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-2.88), an absence of a moderate-to-severe disability rating (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.25-0.96), no difficulty in daily living activities (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.75-0.88), and were economically active (re-employed: OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.52-3.98; returned to original work: OR, 4.46; 9% CI, 2.65-7.50). Those with a decreasing self-esteem trajectory exhibited an increased risk of poor subjective health (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 0.85-4.85 in 2013 to OR, 3.17; 95% CI, 1.04-13.81 in 2017), whereas individuals with an increasing trajectory showed a decreased risk (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.43-0.68 in 2013 to OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.33-0.57 in 2017).

Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the diversity of psychological responses to occupational injury or disease. Policymakers should implement interventions to enhance the self-esteem of victims.

Keywords: Psychological Health; Return-to-Work; Self-Rated Health; Work-Related Disease; Work-Related Injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Observed mean of RSES and estimated values for slopes from three-class growth mixture model.
RSES = Rosenberg self-esteem scale. *P = 0.011; **P < 0.001.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Associations between baseline characteristics and trajectory membership based on multinomial logistic regression.
RTW = return-to-work.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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