Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Workers’ Compensation Claimants with Low Back Pain: the Role of Dissatisfaction in the Transition to Disability

  • Published:
Psychological Injury and Law Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Workers’ compensation systems represent naturalistic settings that often are perceived as unjust by the injured workers for which such systems were developed. This study examined the role of dissatisfaction with medical care and employer treatment on disability outcomes among a cohort of workers who had sustained low back injuries. A race-stratified sample of 358 workers (171 African-Americans, 203 Caucasians) with first incident low back pain was evaluated 21 months and again at 72 months after claim settlement. Evaluation included data related to demographics, socioeconomic factors, injury severity, claim settlement, satisfaction with workers’ compensation (WC) processes, and disability status. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to predict disability status (no disability vs. early disability vs. late disability) at each of the two time points. Analyses revealed contributions of multiple variables to early disability, including unique variance related to dissatisfaction with medical care and treatment by the employer. At 72 months, only demographic factors (age, race) and the receipt of temporary total disability (TTD) after injury predicted late disability. Results are discussed relative to the contribution of injustice perceptions and systemic factors; directions for future research are proposed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andresen, E. M., Machuga, C. R., Van Booven, M. E., Egel, J., Chibnall, J. T., & Tait, R. C. (2008). Effects and costs of tracing strategies on nonresponse bias in a survey of workers with low-back injury. Public Opin Q, 72, 40–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Board of Trustees of the Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds. (2015). The 2015 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds. At: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/tr/2015/tr2015.pdf, Table V.C5, page 137. (Accessed November 1, 2015).

  • Buffie, N., & Baker, D. (2015). Rising disability payments: Are cuts to workers’ compensation part of the story? At http://www.cepr.net/publications/reports/rising-disability-payments-are-cuts-to-workers-compensation-part-of-the-story. (Accessed November 1, 2015).

  • Chibnall, J. T., Tait, R. C., Andresen, E. M., & Hadler, N. M. (2005). Race and socioeconomic differences in post-settlement outcomes for African American and Caucasian workers’ compensation claimants with low back injuries. Pain, 114, 462–472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chibnall, J. T., Tait, R. C., Andresen, E. M., & Hadler, N. M. (2006a). Clinical and social predictors of application for Social Security Disability Insurance by workers’ compensation claimants with low back pain. J Occup Environ Med, 48, 733–740.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chibnall, J. T., Tait, R. C., Andresen, E. M., & Hadler, N. M. (2006b). Race differences in diagnosis and surgery for occupational low back injuries. Spine, 31, 1272–1275.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chibnall, J. T., & Tait, R. C. (2009). Long-term adjustment to work-related low back pain: Associations with socio-demographics, claim processes, and post-settlement adjustment. Pain Med, 10, 1378–1388.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chibnall, J. T., & Tait, R. C. (2010). Legal representation and dissatisfaction with workers’ compensation: Implications for claimant adjustment. Psychol Inj Law, 3, 230–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeGood, D. E., & Kiernan, B. (1996). Perception of fault in patients with chronic pain. Pain, 64, 153–159.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franche, R. L., Severin, C. N., Lee, H., Hogg-Johnson, S., Hepburn, C. G., Vidmar, M., & MacEachen, E. (2009). Perceived justice of compensation process for return-to-work: Development and validation of a scale. Psychol Inj Law, 2, 225–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, X., & Burton, J. F. (2012). The growth in applications for Social Security Disability Insurance: A spillover effect from Workers’ Compensation. Social Security Bulletin, 72, No. 3. At http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v72n3/v72n3p69.html. Accessed November 1, 2015.

  • Guthrie, R., & Jansz, J. (2006). Women’s experience in the workers’ compensation system. J Occup Rehabil, 16, 474–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hadler, N. M., Carey, T. S., & Garrett, J. (1995). The influence of indemnification by workers’ compensation insurance on recovery from acute backache: North Carolina Back Pain Project. Spine, 1995(20), 2710–2715.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hepburn, C. G., Kelloway, E. K., & Franche, R.-L. (2010). Early employer response to workplace injury: What injured workers perceive as fair and why these perceptions matter. J Occup Health Psychol, 15, 409–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lippel, K. (2007). Workers describe the effect of the workers’ compensation process on their health: A Quebec study. Int J Law Psychiatry, 30, 427–443.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacEachen, E., Kosny, A., & Ferrier, S. (2007). Unexpected barriers in return to work: Lessons learned from injured worker peer support groups. Work, 29, 155–164.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Merskey, H., & Teasell, R. W. (2000). The disparagement of pain: Social influences on medical thinking. Pain Res Manag, 5, 259–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, K., & Markel, K. S. (2001). Claiming in the name of fairness: Organizational justice and the decision to file for workplace injury compensation. J Occup Health Psychol, 6, 332–347.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts-Yates, C. (2003). The concerns and issues of injured workers in relation to claims/injury management and rehabilitation: The need for new operational frameworks. Disabil Rehabil, 25, 898–907.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rudolph, L., Dervin, K., Cheadle, A., Maizlish, N., & Wickizer, T. (2002). What do injured workers think about their medical care and outcomes after work injury? J Occup Environ Med, 44, 425–434.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W., & Sullivan, M. J. L. (2012). Perceived injustice moderates the relationship between pain and depressive symptoms among individuals with persistent musculoskeletal pain. Pain Res Manag, 17, 335–340.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W., Trost, Z., Milioto, M., & Sullivan, M. J. L. (2013). Further validation of a measure of injury-related injustice perceptions to identify risk for occupational disability: A prospective study of individuals with whiplash injury. J Occup Rehabil, 23, 557–565.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strunin, L., & Boden, L. I. (2004). The workers’ compensation system: Worker friend or foe? Am J Ind Med, 45, 338–345.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, M. J. L., Adams, H., Horan, S., Maher, D., Boland, D., & Gross, R. (2008). The role of perceived injustice in the experience of chronic pain and disability: Scale development and validation. J Occup Rehabil, 18, 249–261.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, M. J. L., Scott, W., & Trost, Z. (2012). Perceived injustice: A risk factor for problematic pain outcomes. Clin J Pain, 28, 484–488.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, M. J. L., Thibault, P., Simmonds, M. J., Milioto, M., Cantin, A. P., & Velly, A. M. (2009). Pain, perceived injustice and the persistence of post-traumatic stress symptoms during the course of rehabilitation for whiplash injuries. Pain, 145, 325–331.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, M. J. L., Yakobov, E., Scott, W., & Tait, R. (2014). Perceived injustice and adverse recovery outcomes. Psychol Inj Law, 7, 325–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tait, R. C., Margolis, R. B., Krause, S. J., & Liebowitz, E. (1988). Compensation status and symptoms reported by patients with chronic pain. Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 69, 1027–1029.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tait, R. C., Chibnall, J. T., Andresen, E. M., & Hadler, N. M. (2004). Management of occupational back injuries: Differences among African Americans and Caucasians. Pain, 112, 389–396.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Teasell, R. W. (2001). Compensation and chronic pain. Clin J Pain, 17, S46–S64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wickizer, T. M., Franklin, G., Turner, J., Fulton-Kehoe, D., Mootz, R., & Smith-Weller, T. (2004a). Use of attorneys and appeal filing in the Washington State Workers’ Compensation program: Does patient satisfaction matter? J Occup Environ Med, 46, 331–339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wickizer, T. M., Franklin, G., Fulton-Kehoe, D., Turner, J. A., Mootz, R., & Smith-Weller, T. (2004b). Patient satisfaction, treatment experience, and disability outcomes in a population-based cohort of injured workers in Washington State: Implications for quality improvement. Health Serv Res, 39, 727–748.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wickizer, T. M., Franklin, G., Plaeger-Brockway, R., & Mootz, R. (2001). Improving the quality of workers’ compensation health care delivery: The Washington State Occupational Health Services Project. Milbank Q, 79, 5–33.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 1438 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA

    Raymond C. Tait & John T. Chibnall

Authors
  1. Raymond C. Tait
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John T. Chibnall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raymond C. Tait.

Ethics declarations

The institutional review boards of Saint Louis University and the Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation (BCPHRE; St. Louis, Missouri) approved this research.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tait, R.C., Chibnall, J.T. Workers’ Compensation Claimants with Low Back Pain: the Role of Dissatisfaction in the Transition to Disability. Psychol. Inj. and Law 9, 16–22 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-015-9243-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-015-9243-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation