Personal health-risk predictors of occupational injury among 3415 municipal employees.
Little information exists about the effectiveness of health-promotion programs in reducing occupational injury rates. A historical cohort study was conducted to examine the relationship between personal health-risk factors and risk of occupational injury. Workers were grouped on the basis of nonoccupational risk-taking behaviors, psychosocial risks, cardiovascular risk factors, and a total risk-factor variable. All analyses were controlled for sex, smoking status, age, and job classification. An increased risk of occupational injury (P < .0001) was found to be significantly associated with nonoccupational risk-taking behavior. This association may be the result of continued risk-taking behavior in the occupational environment, or assignment of risk-taking individuals to more hazardous job tasks. Psychosocial, cardiovascular, and total risk-factor variables were not associated with an increased risk of occupational injury.
Forrester
B G
BG
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294-2042, USA.
Weaver
M T
MT
Brown
K C
KC
Phillips
J A
JA
Hilyer
J C
JC
D000328:Adult; D000407:Alabama / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009111:Local Government; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking