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Open Access 01-06-2017

The Relationship Between Work-Disability Duration and Claimant’s Expected Time to Return to Work as Recorded by Workers’ Compensation Claims Managers

Authors: Amanda E. Young, Elyssa Besen, Joanna Willetts

Published in: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation | Issue 2/2017

Abstract

Purpose This research sought to determine whether there is a relationship between claimants’ expected time to return to work (RTW) as recorded by claims managers and compensated days of work disability. Methods We utilized workers’ compensation data from a large, United States-based insurance company. RTW expectations were collected within 30 days of the claim being reported and these were compared with the termination of total temporary indemnity payments. Bivariate and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results A significant relationship between expected time to RTW and compensated disability duration was observed. The unadjusted correlation between work-disability duration and expected time to RTW was .25 (p < .001). Our multivariate model explained 29.8 % of the variance, with expected time to RTW explaining an additional 9.5 % of the variance in work-disability duration beyond what was explained by the covariates. Conclusion The current study’s findings support the hypothesis that claimant RTW estimates as recorded by claims managers are significantly related to compensated-disability duration, and the relationship is maintained after controlling for variance that can be explained by other variables available within workers’ compensation databases.

Of the 3173 claimants excluded for missing information, 170 were missing perceived pain, 186 were missing age, 538 were missing tenure, 344 were missing comorbidity, 410 were missing prior injury, and 1251 were missing industry.

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Title: The Relationship Between Work-Disability Duration and Claimant’s Expected Time to Return to Work as Recorded by Workers’ Compensation Claims Managers
Authors: Amanda E. Young
Elyssa Besen
Joanna Willetts
Publication date: 01-06-2017
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation / Issue 2/2017
Print ISSN: 1053-0487
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3688
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-016-9656-z

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The Relationship Between Work-Disability Duration and Claimant’s Expected Time to Return to Work as Recorded by Workers’ Compensation Claims Managers

Abstract

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