Journal of occupational rehabilitation
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Observational Study
The Association Between Fault Attribution and Work Participation After Road Traffic Injury: A Registry-Based Observational Study.
Purpose To characterise associations between fault attribution and work participation and capacity after road traffic injury. Methods People aged 15-65 years, working pre-injury, without serious brain injury, who survived to 12 months after road traffic injury were included from two Victorian trauma registries (n = 2942). Fault profiles from linked compensation claims were defined as no other at fault, another at fault, denied another at fault, claimed another at fault, and unknown. ⋯ Similarly, people had higher odds of work capacity limitations if another was at fault (12m: AOR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.24, 1.80; 24m: 1.63, 95% CI 1.35, 1.97) or was claimed to be at fault (12m: AOR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.16, 2.05; 24m: AOR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.34, 2.41), and lower odds if they denied another was at fault (6m: AOR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.48, 0.95), compared to cases with no other at fault. Conclusion Targeted interventions are needed to support work participation in people at risk of poor RTW post-injury. While interventions targeting fault and justice-related attributions are currently lacking, these may be beneficial for people who believe that another caused their injury.