Barriers Impacting Employment After Burn Injury

Abstract

This study investigates the barriers to return to work after burn injury. The electronic records of burn survivors treated at a Regional Burn Center outpatient clinic from 2001 to 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria included employment at the time of burn injury and age 18 years or older. Documentation of barriers to return to work were reviewed and classified into eight categories. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine predictors of return to work at more than 1 year. Ordered logistic regression analysis was performed to determine barrier predictors of employment. The authors identified 197 patients for inclusion in the study. The age was 37 +/- 0.8 (mean +/- SEM) and total body surface area burned was 16 +/- 1.3%. Two thirds (n = 132) of subjects returned to work by 1 year. The most common barriers included pain (n = 79), neurologic problems (n = 69), impaired mobility (n = 58), and psychiatric issues (n = 51). Pain was the most frequent barrier to return to work at all time intervals. Significant predictors of return to work at more than 12 months included length of hospital stay, inpatient rehabilitation, electric etiology, and burn at work (P < .05). Impaired mobility was a statistically significant (P < .05) barrier and other medical issues showed a trend toward statistical significance (P = .054) in predicting return to work at more than 12 months. There are many barriers that impede return to work in the burn population, including pain, neurologic problems, impaired mobility, and psychiatric issues. Early identification of those at risk for prolonged unemployment should prompt expeditious referral to comprehensive rehabilitation services that include work hardening and vocational training programs.

Employment Outcomes After Burn Injury: A Comparison of Those Burned at Work and Those Burned Outside of Work

“…Significant predictors of return to work at greater than 12 months included length of hospital stay (LOS), inpatient rehabilitation, electric etiology, and burn at work (P Ͻ .05). 12 In this article, the authors reexamine the same previously published cohort to further investigate predictors of employment outcomes.…”

Return to work following disabling occupational injury – facilitators of employment continuation

“…Thus far, research in this vein has tended to focus on barriers to (2)(3)(4)(5)(6) and/or facilitators of (7-10) a return to the workplace. Although this is an important milestone in the return-to-work process, it is only a step toward the achievement of a safe and sustainable employment outcome.…”

Psychiatric Diagnoses After Hospitalization With Work-Related Burn Injuries in Washington State

“…15 Electrical burns also can cause significant difficulty in returning to work, 20,36 including prolonged unemployment; employment after electrical burn may also be affected negatively by WC as found in other injury populations. 36 We found significantly higher costs in claims with psychiatric diagnosis in both categories of TBSA and more days of time loss in claims with Ն10% TBSA. This does not necessarily reflect an association with psychiatric diagnosis and severity of burn (TBSA does not account for depth of burn and therefore does not equal severity; other studies have generally not found an association between severity and diagnosis such as PTSD).…”