Longitudinal association between near-misses/minor injuries and moderate/severe injuries in industrial settings by presence/absence of depressive symptoms in a nationally representative sample of workers in Japan

Abstract

ObjectivesThe association between near-misses/minor injuries and moderate/severe injuries has yet to be investigated longitudinally. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal association between near-misses/minor injuries and moderate/severe injuries by the presence/absence of depressive symptoms using 1-year follow-up data obtained from a nationally representative sample of workers in Japan.MethodsOf the 18 231 eligible participants at time 1 (T1), 12 127 who responded to the 1-year follow-up survey at time 2 (T2) (response rate: 66.5%; 4370 females and 7757 males; mean age (SD), 45.3 (10.5) years) were included in the analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed with the presence/absence of moderate/severe injuries at T2 as the dependent variable.ResultsIn total, 36.4% of participants reported depressive symptoms at T1. During the follow-up period, 1.6% of participants reported moderate/severe injuries in industrial settings. After adjusting for relevant variables, participants who reported near-misses (OR=1.7 (95% CI, 1.3 to 2.4)) and minor injuries (OR=2.5 (95% CI, 1.3 to 4.7)) at T1 were more likely to have moderate/severe injuries at T2 compared to those who reported no near-misses/minor injuries. However, this association was stronger in participants who did not have depressive symptoms at T1 than in those who had depressive symptoms.ConclusionsWhile the predictive value of near-misses/minor injuries for the occurrence of moderate/severe injuries by the presence/absence of depressive symptoms should be cautiously interpreted, our findings suggest that the development and utilisation of near-miss/minor injury reporting systems may help reduce the likelihood of moderate/severe injuries among workers, especially those without depressive symptoms.

A Generalized Structural Equation Model Approach to Long Working Hours and Near-Misses among Healthcare Professionals in Japan

“…Alamgir et al mentioned a similar causal relationship between near-misses and injuries, including serious injuries and deaths [ 5 ]. Yamauchi et al reported that near-misses and minor injuries precede severe injuries in industrial incidents, and thus can predict severe injuries [ 6 ]. Among healthcare professionals, near-misses can be viewed as “an error in care that has substantial potential to cause harm but does not, either because it is intercepted or because it unexpectedly causes no apparent harm despite reaching the patient” [ 7 ].…”