Gelaw Asmare, Walker-Bone Karen, Berecki-Gisolf Janneke
Healthy Working Lives Research Group, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Injury. 2025 Feb;56(2):112035. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2024.112035. Epub 2024 Nov 19.
Work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries pose significant challenges to workers' health, productivity, and healthcare systems. Increased working from home since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the incidence and prevalence of work-related MSK injuries. Despite workers' compensation systems providing valuable data, underreporting remains a concern, necessitating additional data sources such as hospital admissions to better understand the burden of MSK injuries.
To determine time trends in the rates of hospitalization due to work-related MSK injuries in Victoria, Australia, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Retrospective administrative data analysis was conducted using data from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED). Adults (aged 15+ years) hospital admissions between July 2012 and June 2022 were included. Interrupted time series analysis was employed to evaluate changes in monthly incidence rates of hospital admissions for work-related MSK injuries before and during the pandemic.
A total of 67,689 index hospital admissions for work-related MSK injuries were recorded in the study period, with an average of 6,769 annually. Acute injuries were predominant during the pandemic, accounting for 63.6 % of cases compared to 60.1 % before the pandemic. Over ten years, the average annual incidence rate of acute MSK injuries was 13.20 cases per 10,000 workers, while cumulative injuries showed a rate of 8.62 cases per 10,000 workers. Comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, the average annual incidence rate of acute MSK injuries increased, while cumulative injuries decreased.
The study observed a gradual decrease in the overall incidence rate of hospital admissions for cumulative work-related MSK injuries over the last decade. Despite expectations of disruptions, no significant deviations in MSK injury trends were observed following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, Australia.
与工作相关的肌肉骨骼（MSK）损伤对工人的健康、生产力和医疗系统构成重大挑战。自新冠疫情爆发以来，在家工作的情况增多，这可能影响了与工作相关的MSK损伤的发病率和患病率。尽管工人赔偿系统提供了有价值的数据，但漏报问题仍然令人担忧，因此需要额外的数据来源，如医院入院数据，以更好地了解MSK损伤的负担。
确定澳大利亚维多利亚州在新冠疫情之前和期间与工作相关的MSK损伤导致的住院率的时间趋势。
使用维多利亚州入院病例数据集（VAED）的数据进行回顾性行政数据分析。纳入2012年7月至2022年6月期间15岁及以上成年人的医院入院病例。采用中断时间序列分析来评估疫情之前和期间与工作相关的MSK损伤住院病例月发病率的变化。
在研究期间，共记录了67689例与工作相关的MSK损伤的索引医院入院病例，平均每年6769例。疫情期间急性损伤占主导，占病例的63.6%，而疫情前为60.1%。在十年间，急性MSK损伤的平均年发病率为每10000名工人13.20例，而累积损伤的发病率为每10000名工人8.62例。比较疫情前和疫情期间，急性MSK损伤的平均年发病率上升，而累积损伤下降。
该研究观察到在过去十年中，与工作相关的累积性MSK损伤的医院入院总体发病率逐渐下降。尽管预计会有干扰，但在澳大利亚维多利亚州新冠疫情爆发后，未观察到MSK损伤趋势有显著偏差。
