Importance of hand impairment measures on return to work among industrial workers with zone II flexor tendon repair

Abstract

Introduction: Hand injuries are one among the commonest yet the most serious occupational trauma among industrial workers leading to impairment of the hand as it affect the return to work (RTW) and sometimes may even cause permanent dysfunction leading to disability. This study investigated the importance of hand impairment measures on RTW and the overall hand impairment measures among industrial workers with Zone II Flexor tendon repair. Methods: Seventy-six subjects with industrial hand injury were recruited in this study to answer the RTW questionnaire and hand evaluation was performed on their affected hands. RTW outcomes assessed whether the subjects successfully returned to the same work, either from a job change, job modification or salary reduction, and the length of the time taken to return to work (TRTW). The hand impairment measures included the hand impairment ratio, total active motion loss, grasp power loss, lateral-pinch power loss, and palmar-pinch power loss. Results: The result of the study indicated that grasp power loss was a significant predictor for the length of TRTW. Besides, the hand impairment ratio was also found to have mild significance influence with TRTW.