Patterns of health service use following work‐related injury and illness in Australian truck drivers: A latent class analysis

Abstract

ObjectivesTo identify patterns of health service use (HSU) in truck drivers with work‐related injury or illness and to identify demographic and work‐related factors associated with patterns of care.MethodAll accepted workers’ compensation claims from truck drivers lodged between 2004 and 2013 in Victoria were included. Episodes of HSU were categorised according to practitioner type. Latent class analysis was used to identify the distinct profiles of users with different patterns of HSU. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the associations between latent class and predictors.ResultsFour profiles of HSU were identified: (a) Low Service Users (55% of the sample) were more likely to be younger, have an injury that did not result in time off work and have conditions other than a musculoskeletal injury; (b) High Service Users (10%) tended to be those aged between 45 and 64 years, living in major cities with musculoskeletal conditions that resulted in time off work; (c) Physical Therapy Users (25%) were more likely to be aged between 45 and 64 years, live in major cities and have nontraumatic injuries that resulted in time off work; and (d) GP/Mental Health Users (10%) were more likely to be over 24 years of age, from the lowest socioeconomic band, be employed by smaller organizations and be claiming benefits for a mental health condition.ConclusionsThis study identified distinct categories of HSU among truck drivers following work‐related injury. The results can be used to prioritize occupational health and safety promotion to maintain a healthy truck driver work force.

Incidence of Workers’ Compensation Claims in Opioid-Using Truck Drivers

“…Other studies have reported statistically significant relationships between opioid use and Workers’ Compensation Claims 35,36 . Few studies assessed relationships between other factors and Workers’ Compensation Claims among truck drivers 37–40 . Although, research has demonstrated the association between opioid use and increased unsafe driver actions among commercial drivers, 26 the overarching literature investigating opioid use in the truck driver population is scant.…”

“…35,36 Few studies assessed relationships between other factors and Workers' Compensation Claims among truck drivers. [37][38][39][40] Although, research has demonstrated the association between opioid use and increased unsafe driver actions among commercial drivers, 26 the overarching literature investigating opioid use in the truck driver population is scant. Thus, further investigation of the relationship between prescription drug use and commercial driving outcomes is needed.…”

impact of workers’ compensation benefit cessation on welfare and health service use

“…The second includes all other prescription medicines (other medicines). Pain and anti-depressant medicines will be examined in sub-categories such as opioid strength [ 36 ].…”

Pre-injury health status of truck drivers with a workers’ compensation claim

“…Safe Work Australia has identified truck driving as a priority area for health and safety reform due to the high number of fatalities, injuries and illnesses that occurs in this occupational group [ 1 ]. Truck drivers are at greater risk of work-related injury and disease even compared with other groups of drivers (i.e., bus drivers, automobile drivers, delivery drivers, rail drivers), with an elevated rate of 70.3 claims per 1000 workers per year [ 2 ]. Additionally, the relative risk of workers’ compensation claims increases with age [ 3 ].…”