The relationship of disability to compensation status in railroad workers.

The role that the secondary gain of work-related back pain plays in the length of disability is an issue that has been debated for years without absolute resolution. This article compares the disability period of lumbar sprain/strain and operated back cases in employees injured on duty and off duty. The patients injured on duty had a statistically significantly longer period of disability than those injured off duty, even when the cases were matched for gender and type of injury.