Self-perceived health and return to work following work-related hand injury.
BACKGROUND
Return to work is an important outcome following traumatic work-related hand injuries. It is unclear how psychosocial factors affect the time to return to work following traumatic work-related hand injury.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationships between hand injury severity, self-perceived health, demographics and time off work (TOW) following traumatic work-related hand injuries and the influence of psychosocial factors on the readiness of return to work.


METHODS
Data from 120 traumatic work-related hand injured patients were gathered. The Modified Hand Injury Severity Score (MHISS) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were used to assess the severity of hand trauma and self-perceived health, respectively. The relationships between MHISS, SF-36, demographics and TOW were analysed by multiple regression analysis.


RESULTS
Mean duration of TOW was 127 days for patients with a mild MHISS, 108 days for a moderate score, 160 days for a severe score and 236 days for those with a major score. A positive correlation between MHISS and duration of TOW was identified. Self-perceived physical functioning was found to have a negative correlation with TOW, whereas self-perceived mental health was positively correlated with TOW.


CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights the importance of self-perceived health in considering return to work following traumatic work-related hand injury.
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, No. 5, Fusing Street, Gueishan Township, Taoyuan County 333, Taiwan.
Y-H
YH
Chen
H-T
HT
Lin
Y-T
YT
Lin
Y-H
YH
Chao
C-H
CH
Lin
F-C
FC
Wei
S-H
SH
Lien
D000041:Absenteeism; D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult