title: Legal sequelae of occupational back injuries: a longitudinal analysis of Missouri judicial records.
abstract: METHODS
  Telephone survey and longitudinal analysis of judicial database for cohort of worker's compensation (WC) claimants in Missouri.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare legal difficulties experienced by African American and white WC claimants presettlement versus postsettlement.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Retrospective studies suggest that workers with occupational back injuries experience financial and personal duress after claim settlement. This study examined these issues by comparing financial and domestic court actions for the 5-year presettlement against 5-year postsettlement. Sociodemographic differences also were examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Missouri judicial records were reviewed for African American (n = 580) and non-Hispanic white (n = 892) WC claimants to determine the frequency with which four types of cases occurred: general financial, domestic financial, residence financial, and domestic behavior. Average annual level of judicial activity during the 5 years before claim settlement was compared to activity for each of five postsettlement years; significance of change was evaluated with univariate and multivariate repeated measures analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant (P < 0.001) postsettlement increases in legal cases were noted for each of the four categories of cases. There were significant interactions between race and time for general financial and domestic financial cases. A significant interaction between age and time occurred for general financial cases. Significant three-way interactions (race × income change × time) emerged for general and domestic financial cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results confirm that workers with occupational back injuries, especially African American and younger adults, encounter long-term financial and domestic duress that appears to escalate with each passing year after claim settlement. This pattern suggests that short-term studies underestimate postsettlement difficulties, particularly among selected demographic cohorts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology & Psychiatry, Saint Louis University, MO, USA. taitrc@slu.edu
authors.forename: Raymond C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Tait
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Chibnall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019567:Back Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000639:trends; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033222:Judicial Role; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008923:Missouri / Q000453:epidemiology; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013997:Time Factors; D044465:White People / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*