title: The impact of psychological symptoms on return to work in workers after occupational injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to investigate the impact of psychological symptoms on return to work (RTW) in workers after occupational injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study candidates were injured workers who were hospitalized for 3 days or longer and received hospitalization benefits from the Labor Insurance. A self-reported questionnaire including Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-50) and RTW was sent to workers at 12 weeks after injury. At 1 year, all participants were contacted again to determine whether or not they had RTW.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2001 workers completed the questionnaire (response rate 45.5 %) at 12 weeks after injury, among them, 1,149 had returned to work. Among the 852 who were unable to return to work at 12 weeks after injury, 225 reportedly returned to work by 1 year. A proportional hazards regression indicated that after adjusting for all possible risk factors, higher scores in BSRS-50 and BSRS-5 at 12 weeks after injury were significant risk factors for not return to work (NRTW) at 1 year after injury. Other risk factors were gender, education level, length of hospitalization, affected physical appearance, and injury type. Among 10 psycho-physiological symptoms of BSRS-50, a proportional hazards regression indicated that high score in phobic-anxiety scale was a risk factor for NRTW.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After considering all other factors, psychological symptoms further predicted poorer probability of returning to work after occupational injury, and phobic-anxiety was the most significant symptom predicting poor RTW. Development of preventive measures among injured workers according to the risk factors identified in this study is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University School of Public Health, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kuan-Han
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Nai-Wen
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Shu-Chu
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Shiao
authors.forename: Shih-Cheng
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Pei-Yi
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jin-Huei
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Yaw-Huei
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Yue Leon
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D019540:Area Under Curve; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D062707:Return to Work / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult