Insurance Work and Health Group, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
J Occup Rehabil. 2020 Dec;30(4):679-688. doi: 10.1007/s10926-020-09883-1.
Workers' compensation schemes usually recompense workers below their regular wage. This may cause financial stress, which has previously been associated with poorer health and work outcomes after injury. We sought to determine the level of financial stress experienced by injured workers and the influence of post-injury income source on financial stress.
Analysis of a cross-sectional national survey of 4532 adults who had been injured at work and had at least one day of workers' compensation paid. Financial stress at time of survey was measured on a scale of 1-10 and subsequently dichotomised at the top quartile for further analysis. The effect of current main income source on financial stress, adjusted for demographic and psychosocial confounders, was assessed using logistic regression.
Sixty-nine percent of workers whose main income was social assistance or insurance and 54% whose main income was workers' compensation were experiencing financial stress. Relative to wages or salaries, workers with a main income from social assistance or insurance (odds ratio: 3.33, 95% CI 2.22-5.00) and workers' compensation (1.71, 1.31-2.24) had higher odds of financial stress. Workers with a main income of an aged pension or superannuation had lower odds of financial stress (0.52, 0.28-0.97).
Injured workers receiving workers' compensation or social assistance benefits are vulnerable to increased financial stress. Given the potential negative consequences of financial stress on health, particularly mental health, this study suggests the need for careful consideration of income replacement benefits in the design of workers' compensation schemes.
工人赔偿计划通常会向低于正常工资的工人进行赔偿。这可能会导致经济压力，而经济压力先前与受伤后的健康状况和工作结果较差有关。我们旨在确定受伤工人所经历的经济压力水平，以及受伤后收入来源对经济压力的影响。
对全国范围内 4532 名成年人进行的横断面调查进行了分析，这些成年人在工作中受伤且至少有一天获得了工人赔偿。通过 1-10 分的量表来衡量调查时的经济压力，然后将最高四分位数进行二分分析以进一步分析。使用逻辑回归评估当前主要收入来源对经济压力的影响，同时调整了人口统计学和心理社会混杂因素。
69%的主要收入来自社会援助或保险，54%的主要收入来自工人赔偿的工人正在经历经济压力。与工资或薪水相比，主要收入来自社会援助或保险（比值比：3.33，95%CI 2.22-5.00）和工人赔偿（1.71，1.31-2.24）的工人更有可能出现经济压力。主要收入为养老金或退休金的工人出现经济压力的可能性较小（0.52，0.28-0.97）。
领取工人赔偿或社会援助金的受伤工人容易承受更大的经济压力。鉴于经济压力对健康（尤其是心理健康）的潜在负面影响，本研究表明在设计工人赔偿计划时需要仔细考虑收入替代福利。
