Case Identification of Work-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Using the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System

Abstract

Objective Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common, costly, and disabling occupational injuries. Objectives included determining whether work-related TBI could be reliably identified using the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) and describing challenges in developing an OIICS-based TBI case definition. Methods Washington State trauma registry reports and workers’ compensation claims were linked (1998–2008). Trauma registry diagnoses were used as the gold standard for six OIICS-based TBI case definitions. Results OIICS-based case definitions were highly specific but had low sensitivity, capturing less than a third of fatal and nonfatal TBI. Conclusions The use of OIICS versus ICD-9-CM codes underestimated TBI and changed the attributable cause distribution, with potential implications for prevention efforts. Surveillance methods that can more fully and accurately capture the impact of work-related TBI across the U.S are needed.

Examining the epidemiology of work-related traumatic brain injury through a sex/gender lens: analysis of workers’ compensation claims in Victoria, Australia

“…However, since the database contained detailed compensation payment information, we expect the coding of injuries to be relatively accurate. Given the possibility of linkage to clinical data, future studies should assess the validity of TOOCS codes in wrTBI case identification using a similar approach described by Sears et al 13. Additionally, since time-loss from work is a poor proxy for injury severity due to its association with various personal and workplace factors, the inclusion of validated severity measures (eg, Glasgow Coma Scale) in the data is needed to improve the characterisation of wrTBI.…”

Non-fatal work-related traumatic brain injuries treated in US hospital emergency departments, 1998–2007

“…13 Although national estimates for non-fatal work-related TBIs (WRTBI) are not available, a recent study of a Washington state trauma registry and workers’ compensation claims found that TBIs accounted for 20% of all work-related injuries from 1998 to 2008. 4 In another state-based analysis in Minnesota, about 5% of all TBIs from 1999 to 2008 were WRTBIs. 5 TBIs impact the lives and functioning of the injured workers, and they can also result in substantial claim costs to the employer and insurer.…”

“…Existing research on non-fatal WRTBIs in the USA is largely limited to single states, genders, specific age groups or particular industries. 4–689 The dearth of research in this area may be attributed to methodological issues, such as difficulties in ascertaining TBI cases and identifying WRTBIs from hospital records. 1210–12 Work-related fatal TBIs were reported at the national level, but nonfatal TBIs were never described.…”

Forensic investigation into a death: post-traumatic amnesia in a worker with a work-related head injury sustained in a coal-fired thermal power plant in India

“…For example, epidemiological studies of TBI from the USA, the Netherlands and the UK have sparse data on occupationally acquired TBI 18 19. It is estimated that 18% of TBI is due to accidents at the workplace 20. There is a paucity of published information on epidemiological aspects of WRTBI from the USA; there is a discordance of the data recorded by different agencies, and the data are not subclassified into anatomical locations or clinically relevant early symptoms like PTA 21.…”