Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
Published in: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation 3/2023

Open Access 29-03-2023 | Back Pain

The Prevalence of Mental Health Service Use in Australian Workers with Accepted Workers’ Compensation Claims for Low Back Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Authors: Shannon E. Gray, M. Di Donato, L. R. Sheehan, R. Iles, A. Collie

Published in: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation | Issue 3/2023

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability globally and interferes with work performance and quality of life. For work-related LBP, Australian workers can receive workers’ compensation and access funded healthcare to promote recovery, including mental health services, as there are strong links between chronic LBP and mental health. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of funded mental health services for workers with compensated LBP.

Methods

Claims and services data from four Australian workers’ compensation jurisdictions were analysed. Prevalence of accessing at least one mental health service was reported as a percentage of all claims overall and by duration of time loss, age group, sex, financial year of claim lodgement, jurisdiction, socioeconomic status and remoteness. Odds of accessing at least one service was determined using logistic regression.

Results

Almost 10% of LBP claims accessed at least one mental health service (9.7%) with prevalence increasing with time loss. Prevalence was highest in Victoria however a higher percentage of workers with LBP accessed mental health services earlier in Queensland. Odds of accessing services was highest with longest time loss duration, among females and in Queensland. Lower odds were observed in regional areas and among those aged over 56 years.

Conclusion

Findings suggest opportunities for workers’ compensation regulators and insurers to provide greater access to appropriate mental health services alongside physical treatment as standard practice, such as those in more remote locations or earlier in a claim, to improve recovery outcomes for workers with LBP.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Wu A, March L, Zheng X, et al. Global low back pain prevalence and years lived with disability from 1990 to 2017: estimates from the global burden of Disease Study 2017. Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(6):299.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
2.
3.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2018. 2021, Australian Burden of Disease Study series no. 23. Cat. no. BOD 29: Canberra: AIHW.
4.
Hartvigsen J, Hancock MJ, Kongsted A, et al. What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention. Lancet. 2018;391(10137):2356–67.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Low back Pain Clinical Care Standard. ACSQHC: Sydney; 2022.
6.
Safe Work Australia. Australian workers’ compensation Statistics 2018-19. Safe Work Australia: Canberra, Australia; 2019.
7.
Oakman J, Clune S, Stuckey R. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Australia, 2019. Safe Work Australia: Canberra; 2019.
8.
Gu JK, Charles LE, Fekedulegn D, et al. Occupational injury and psychological distress among U.S. workers: the National Health interview Survey, 2004–2016. J Saf Res. 2020;74:207–17.CrossRef
9.
Collie A, Sheehan L, Lane TJ, et al. Psychological distress in workers’ compensation claimants: prevalence, predictors and mental health service use. J Occup Rehabil. 2020;30(2):194–202.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Hope P, Forshaw MJ. Assessment of psychological distress is important in patients presenting with low back pain. Physiotherapy. 1999;85(10):563–70.CrossRef
11.
Besen E, Young AE, Shaw WS. Returning to work following low back pain: towards a model of individual psychosocial factors. J Occup Rehabil. 2015;25(1):25–37.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Chou R, Shekelle P. Will this patient develop persistent disabling low back pain? JAMA. 2010;303(13):1295–302.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Oliveira CB, Maher CG, Pinto RZ, et al. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of non-specific low back pain in primary care: an updated overview. Eur Spine J. 2018;27(11):2791–803.CrossRefPubMed
14.
15.
Thumula V, Negrusa S. A primer on behavioral health care in workers’ compensation. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Workers Compensation Research Institute; 2022.
16.
Leijon O, Mulder M. Prevalence of low back pain and concurrent psychological distress over a 16-year period. Occup Environ Med. 2009;66(2):137–9.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Richardson AE, Derrett S, Samaranayaka A, et al. Prevalence and predictors of psychological distress following injury: findings from a prospective cohort study. Inj Epidemiol. 2021;8(1):41.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
18.
Shaw WS, Hartvigsen J, Woiszwillo MJ, et al. Psychological distress in acute low back pain: a review of measurement scales and levels of distress reported in the first 2 months after pain onset. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2016;97(9):1573–87.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Orchard C, Carnide N, Mustard C, et al. Prevalence of serious mental illness and mental health service use after a workplace injury: a longitudinal study of workers’ compensation claimants in Victoria, Australia. Occup Environ Med. 2020;77(3):185–87.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Franche RL, Carnide N, Hogg-Johnson S, et al. Course, diagnosis, and treatment of depressive symptomatology in workers following a workplace injury: a prospective cohort study. Can J Psychiatry. 2009;54(8):534–46.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Safe W, Australia. Comparison of workers’ compensation arrangements in Australia and New Zealand 2017. Safe Work Australia: Canberra, Australia; 2018.
22.
Bohm K, Schmid A, Gotze R, et al. Five types of OECD healthcare systems: empirical results of a deductive classification. Health Policy. 2013;113(3):258–69.CrossRefPubMed
23.
24.
Di Donato M, Iles R, Buchbinder R, et al. Prevalence, predictors and wage replacement duration associated with diagnostic imaging in australian workers with accepted claims for low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. J Occup Rehabil. 2021;32(1):55–63.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Australian Safety and Compensation Council. Type of occurrence classification system 3rd Edition, revision 1. Canberra; 2008.
26.
Collie A, Lane TJ, Hassani-Mahmooei B, et al. Does time off work after injury vary by jurisdiction? A comparative study of eight australian workers’ compensation systems. BMJ Open. 2016;6(5):e010910.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
27.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Postal area, indexes, SEIFA (socio-Economic indexes for Areas) 2011, in Census of Population and Houseing: Socio-Economic indexes for areas (SEIFA), Australia, 2011. Canberra; 2013.
28.
29.
Krause N, Dasinger LK, Deegan LJ, et al. Alternative approaches for measuring duration of work disability after low back injury based on administrative workers’ compensation data. Am J Ind Med. 1999;35(6):604–18.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Core Team R. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing: Vienna, Austria; 2020.
31.
32.
Hope P. Assessment and treatment of patients presenting with low back pain and accompanying psychological distress: an evidence-based approach. Physiotherapy. 2002;88(12):745–50.CrossRef
33.
34.
NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation. Management of people with acute low back pain: model of care. NSW Health: Chatswood; 2016.
35.
Brown TT, Ahn C, Huang H, et al. Reducing the prevalence of low-back pain by reducing the prevalence of psychological distress: evidence from a natural experiment and implications for health care providers. Health Serv Res. 2020;55(5):631–41.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Metadata
Title
The Prevalence of Mental Health Service Use in Australian Workers with Accepted Workers’ Compensation Claims for Low Back Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors
Shannon E. Gray
M. Di Donato
L. R. Sheehan
R. Iles
A. Collie
Publication date
29-03-2023
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation / Issue 3/2023
Print ISSN: 1053-0487
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3688
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-023-10098-3

Other articles of this Issue 3/2023

Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation 3/2023 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

The Impact of Work Incentives Benefits Counseling on Employment Outcomes: A National Vocational Rehabilitation Study

OriginalPaper

Exploration of the Usual Care Pathway for Rotator Cuff Related Shoulder Pain in the Western Australian Workers’ Compensation System

OriginalPaper

Recognition During the Return-to-Work Process in Workers with Common Mental Disorders

OriginalPaper

Who Returns to work? Exploring the Role of Interpersonal Problems in Occupational Rehabilitation

OriginalPaper

Integrated Mental Healthcare and Vocational Rehabilitation for People on Sick Leave with Anxiety or Depression: 24-Month Follow-up of the Randomized IBBIS Trial

OriginalPaper

Reducing Shoulder Complaints in Employees with High Occupational Shoulder Exposures: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Study (The Shoulder-Café Study)