Duration of work disability: a comparison of self-report and administrative data.
BACKGROUND
Studies have used insurer-reported compensable days absent as an outcome measure when studying work-related injury or illness. Compared to self-reported days absent, insurer data are less expensive to collect. Previous work has identified that insurer-claims data consistently underestimate the duration of days absent when compared to self-report. The objective of this study was to examine the agreement between the number of self-reported days absent from work following a compensable work-related injury and the number of insurer-reported compensation days paid, and to examine factors associated with the magnitude of the discrepancy between the number of self-reported days absent and the number of insurer-reported compensated days paid.


METHODS
One hundred sixty six respondents who experienced a work-related injury were interviewed approximately 200 days post-injury to assess the number of days absent from work. The number of days compensated by the insurer was compared to self-report using descriptive statistics and linear regression.


RESULTS
Respondents who had yet to experience a return-to-work (RTW) had the largest median discrepancy followed by respondents with an unsustained RTW and finally sustained RTW. Respondents with upper extremity injuries, lower education, and lower RTW self-efficacy showed greater discrepancy between self-reported and compensated days absent. Among respondents who self-reported fewer days absent than insurer-compensated days absent an inverse relationship between firm size and discrepancy was noted.


CONCLUSIONS
Researchers should be aware of the discrepancies between self-reported and compensated days absent. Future studies planning to incorporate days absent as an outcome variable should carefully consider what measure would be more appropriate and potentially collect both self-report and administrative data to assess the discrepancy.
Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. jpole@iwh.on.ca
Jason D
JD
Pole
Renée-Louise
RL
Franche
Sheilah
S
Hogg-Johnson
Marjan
M
Vidmar
Niklas
N
Krause
D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D012650:Self Disclosure; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*