title: Functional limitations and well-being in injured municipal workers: a longitudinal study.
abstract: Two instruments, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36), were used to document both the immediate and short-term effects of workplace injuries in municipal workers. Telephone interviews were conducted up to 3 months following the injury. One hundred fourteen subjects agreed to participate in the study; 90 workers completed at least one useable interview. The relationship between functional limitation and lost days was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models. At 3 months following the onset of injury, SF-36 scores for physical function, role-physical, and bodily pain differed significantly from population norms. Using one standard deviation of change, statistically significant hazard ratios were seen in subjects with lower SF-36 physical component summary, physical function, and bodily pain scores, and higher HAQ disability and fatigue scores. Functional limitations persisted in workers after relatively minor workplace injuries despite a 91% return to work rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0608, USA. marion.gillen@nursing.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gillen
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Faucett
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yelin
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*