Vicki L Kristman1, Pierre Côté2, Xiaoqing Yang3, Sheilah Hogg-Johnson4, Marjan Vidmar5, Mana Rezai2. 1. Department of Health Sciences, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada; Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: vkristman@lakeheadu.ca. 2. Division of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; UOIT-CMCC Centre for the Study of Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 3. Abbott Laboratories, Diagnostics Division R&D Statistics, Abbott Park, IL. 4. Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Division of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 5. Toronto Health Economics and Technology Assessment (THETA) Collaborative, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the health care use of workers with an injury before and after making a workers' compensation claim for mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). DESIGN: Cohort study of workers with an MTBI who received workers' compensation benefits. SETTING: Workers' compensation system in Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Workers (N=728) who made an incident claim involving MTBI to the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board between 1997 and 1998. We linked workers' compensation and Ontario Health Insurance Plan files and collected all health care services accrued during the year before and 2 years after the claim was initiated. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We report our results as a 7-day simple moving average of health care services per 1000 claimants per day. We stratified our analysis by age, sex, the preclaim level of health care utilization, diagnostic category, and health care specialty. RESULTS: Over the 2 years, 728 claims related to MTBI were filed by workers with an injury. The majority of the claims (65.8%) were filed by men, and 28.3% were filed by those aged between 25 and 34 years. The cumulative rate of health care utilization was stable (mean=67.6 visits/1000 claimants per day; 95% confidence interval [CI], 65.0-70.2) throughout the year before claim initiation. Health care utilization peaked during the first 4 weeks following the initiation of the claim (mean=274.3 visits/1000 claimants per day; 95% CI, 172.2-376.4) and remained on average 182% higher than that at baseline throughout the 5th to 12th week postclaim. Two years after the initiation of the claim, utilization remained 9.5% higher than the preclaim level. The increase was more pronounced (125% higher) for workers with less than the median preclaim utilization level. CONCLUSIONS: Making a workers' compensation claim involving MTBI is associated with a long-term increase in health care use.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the health care use of workers with an injury before and after making a workers' compensation claim for mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). DESIGN: Cohort study of workers with an MTBI who received workers' compensation benefits. SETTING: Workers' compensation system in Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Workers (N=728) who made an incident claim involving MTBI to the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board between 1997 and 1998. We linked workers' compensation and Ontario Health Insurance Plan files and collected all health care services accrued during the year before and 2 years after the claim was initiated. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We report our results as a 7-day simple moving average of health care services per 1000 claimants per day. We stratified our analysis by age, sex, the preclaim level of health care utilization, diagnostic category, and health care specialty. RESULTS: Over the 2 years, 728 claims related to MTBI were filed by workers with an injury. The majority of the claims (65.8%) were filed by men, and 28.3% were filed by those aged between 25 and 34 years. The cumulative rate of health care utilization was stable (mean=67.6 visits/1000 claimants per day; 95% confidence interval [CI], 65.0-70.2) throughout the year before claim initiation. Health care utilization peaked during the first 4 weeks following the initiation of the claim (mean=274.3 visits/1000 claimants per day; 95% CI, 172.2-376.4) and remained on average 182% higher than that at baseline throughout the 5th to 12th week postclaim. Two years after the initiation of the claim, utilization remained 9.5% higher than the preclaim level. The increase was more pronounced (125% higher) for workers with less than the median preclaim utilization level. CONCLUSIONS: Making a workers' compensation claim involving MTBI is associated with a long-term increase in health care use.
Authors: Aleksandra Karolina Gozt; Sarah Claire Hellewell; Jacinta Thorne; Elizabeth Thomas; Francesca Buhagiar; Shaun Markovic; Anoek Van Houselt; Alexander Ring; Glenn Arendts; Ben Smedley; Sjinene Van Schalkwyk; Philip Brooks; John Iliff; Antonio Celenza; Ashes Mukherjee; Dan Xu; Suzanne Robinson; Stephen Honeybul; Gill Cowen; Melissa Licari; Michael Bynevelt; Carmela F Pestell; Daniel Fatovich; Melinda Fitzgerald Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2021-05-13 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Mayra Bittencourt; Harm-Jan van der Horn; Sebastián A Balart-Sánchez; Jan-Bernard C Marsman; Joukje van der Naalt; Natasha M Maurits Journal: Brain Imaging Behav Date: 2022-04-08 Impact factor: 3.224
Authors: Aleksandra Gozt; Melissa Licari; Alison Halstrom; Hannah Milbourn; Stephen Lydiard; Anna Black; Glenn Arendts; Stephen Macdonald; Swithin Song; Ellen MacDonald; Philip Vlaskovsky; Sally Burrows; Michael Bynevelt; Carmela Pestell; Daniel Fatovich; Melinda Fitzgerald Journal: Brain Sci Date: 2020-01-02
Authors: Noah D Silverberg; William J Panenka; Pierre-Paul Lizotte; Mark T Bayley; Derry Dance; Linda C Li Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2020-10-20 Impact factor: 2.692