Abstract
Study design: Descriptive study.
Objective: To describe the demographics, cause of injury, and annual-paid medical costs for the 5 years following injury for cases of work-related tetraplegia.
Setting: A single United States workers' compensation (WC) claims database.
Methods: Tetraplegia cases with initial date of injury from 1 January 1989 to 31 December 1999 were selected by cross-referencing word search terms pertaining to body part injured and nature of injury. The main outcome measures were injury causes and annual-paid medical payments (adjusted to year 2000 medical consumer price index) of work-related tetraplegia by injury group for each year postinjury over a 5-year time period.
Results: A total of 62 claimants with work-related tetraplegia injured between 1 January 1989 and 31 December 1999. The vast majority of those identified were male claimants (92%) and more than a quarter worked in the construction industry (26%). Other highly represented industries included transportation and retail (15% each), manufacturing (13%), and agriculture and utility (11% each). The majority of injuries were the result of falls (36%) and vehicular accidents (34%). The mean Year 1 cost was $560 524 for those with a high-level tetraplegia (C2–4 ASIA A–C), $431 033 for a low-level injury (C5–8 ASIA A–C), and $178 041 for those with an ASIA D tetraplegia injury. The mean cost of subsequent years (Years 2–5) was $130 992 for a high-level, $129 250 for a low-level, and $34 352 for an ASIA D tetraplegia injury.
Conclusions: Mean costs for Year 1 postinjury in WC cases are similar to previously published estimates. Comparing the current results with those of previous spinal cord injury cost studies suggests that those with work-related tetraplegia may receive more injury-related paid medical benefits after the first year postinjury than cases who do not receive WC-supported benefits.
Sponsorship: Supported, in part, by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDDR) (Grant # H133N00024).
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Jamil Ahmed, Radha Vijayakumar, Ashar Ata, and Santosh Verma for their assistance in data collection. We also acknowledge Russell Hensel for his technical assistance, and Helen Wellman, Rammahon Maikala, and Jon Mukand for their review of the manuscript.
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Webster, B., Giunti, G., Young, A. et al. Work-related tetraplegia: cause of injury and annual medical costs. Spinal Cord 42, 240–247 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101526
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