The relationship between worker, occupational and workplace characteristics and whether an injury requires time off work: a matched case-control analysis in Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine individual, occupational, and workplace level factors associated with time loss following a similar injury.

METHODS: Seven thousand three hundred and forty-eight workers' compensation claims that did not require time off work were matched with up to four claims that required time off work on the event, nature, and part of body injured as well as injury year. Conditional logistic regression models examined individual, occupational, and workplace level factors that were associated with the likelihood of not requiring time off work.

RESULTS: Employees from firms with higher premium rates were more likely to report no time loss from work and workers in more physically demanding occupations were less likely to report no time loss from work. We observed no association between age or gender and the probability of a time loss claim submission.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that insurance costs are an incentive for workplaces to adopt policies and practices that minimize time loss following a work injury.