Work-related pain and injury and barriers to workers' compensation among Las Vegas hotel room cleaners.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the prevalence of work-related pain and injury and explored barriers to and experiences of reporting among workers.


METHODS
We surveyed 941 unionized hotel room cleaners about work-related pain, injury, disability, and reporting.


RESULTS
During the past 12 months, 75% of workers in our study experienced work-related pain, and 31% reported it to management; 20% filed claims for workers' compensation as a result of work-related injury, and 35% of their claims were denied. Barriers to reporting injury included "It would be too much trouble" (43%), "I was afraid" (26%), and "I didn't know how" (18%). An estimated 69% of medical costs were shifted from employers to workers.


CONCLUSIONS
The reasons for underreporting and the extent of claim denial warrant further investigation. Implications for worker health and the precise quantification of shifting costs to workers also should be addressed.
Scherzer
Teresa
T
Occupational Epidemiology Program, University of California, San Francisco, 1301 S 46th St, Bldg 163, Richmond, CA 94804, USA.
Rugulies
Reiner
R
Krause
Niklas
N
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003361:Cost Allocation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006796:Household Work; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007750:Labor Unions; D008297:Male; D009505:Nevada / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016272:Occupational Health; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation
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