Medical expenditures associated with nonfatal occupational injuries among immigrant and U.S.-born workers

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Gary A Smith¹  Weiyan Zhao¹  Krista Wheeler¹  Junxin Shi¹  Huiyun Xiang²  Bo Lu³  J R Wilkins⁴ 

[1] Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, 700 Children’s Drive, 43205, Columbus, OH, USA;Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, 700 Children’s Drive, 43205, Columbus, OH, USA;Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA;Division of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA;Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA;

关键词: Medical Expenditure;    National Health Interview Survey;    Injured Worker;    Medical Expenditure Panel Survey;    Occupational Injury;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-12-678

 received in 2011-10-25, accepted in 2012-06-06,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNo national study has investigated whether immigrant workers are less likely than U.S.-workers to seek medical treatment after occupational injuries and whether the payment source differs between two groups.MethodsUsing the 2004–2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data, we estimated the annual incidence rate of nonfatal occupational injuries per 100 workers. Logistic regression models were fitted to test whether injured immigrant workers were less likely than U.S.-born workers to seek professional medical treatment after occupational injuries. We also estimated the average mean medical expenditures per injured worker during the 2 year MEPS reference period using linear regression analysis, adjusting for gender, age, race, marital status, education, poverty level, and insurance. Types of service and sources of payment were compared between U.S.-born and immigrant workers.ResultsA total of 1,909 injured U.S.-born workers reported 2,176 occupational injury events and 508 injured immigrant workers reported 560 occupational injury events. The annual nonfatal incidence rate per 100 workers was 4.0% (95% CI: 3.8%-4.3%) for U.S.-born workers and 3.0% (95% CI: 2.6%-3.3%) for immigrant workers. Medical treatment was sought after 77.3% (95% CI: 75.1%-79.4%) of the occupational injuries suffered by U.S.-born workers and 75.6% (95% CI: 69.8%-80.7%) of the occupational injuries suffered by immigrant workers. The average medical expenditure per injured worker in the 2 year MEPS reference period was $2357 for the U.S.-born workers and $2,351 for immigrant workers (in 2009 U.S. dollars, P = 0.99). Workers’ compensation paid 57.0% (95% CI: 49.4%-63.6%) of the total expenditures for U.S.-born workers and 43.2% (95% CI: 33.0%-53.7%) for immigrant workers. U.S.-born workers paid 6.7% (95% CI: 5.5%-8.3%) and immigrant workers paid 7.1% (95% CI: 5.2%-9.6%) out-of-pocket.ConclusionsImmigrant workers had a statistically significant lower incidence rate of nonfatal occupational injuries than U.S.-born workers. There was no significant difference in seeking medical treatment and in the mean expenditures per injured worker between the two groups. The proportion of total expenditures paid by workers’ compensation was smaller (marginally significant) for immigrant workers than for U.S.-born workers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Xiang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012