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Abstract
Objectives To describe and compare the incidence and trends of workers’ compensation (WC) claims for psychological injury: (1) between health and social care (HSC) industry and other industries; (2) among specific occupations in the HSC industry; and (3) to determine if psychological injury claim rates differ by age and gender in the HSC industry and among specific occupations.
Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the New South Wales WC system. Workers with accepted psychological injury claims between July 2012 and June 2021 were included. Negative binomial regression models were employed to estimate incidence rate ratios and 95% CIs.
Results The HSC industry had a higher incidence (2.4 per 1000 workers) than all other industries combined (1.1 per 1000 workers). In the HSC industry, the incidence increased from 1.8 in 2013–2015 to 3.4 in 2019–2021. Ambulance officers had the highest incidence (24.9 per 1000 workers) and the highest growth rate. Nurses and midwives, and aged and disability care workers also had fast-growing incidence over the 9 years. Risk of psychological injury claims was highest among female workers and older adults.
Conclusions The increasing incidence and trend of psychological injury claims among HSC workers in New South Wales signify a growing public health issue. Greater efforts are needed to prevent work-related psychological injury in the HSC industry and support affected workers. The different patterns of psychological injury claims across occupations suggest that interventions should be tailored to each occupational group.
- Occupational Stress
- Burnout, Psychological
- Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
- Epidemiology
- Occupational Health
Data availability statement
Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available.
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- Occupational Stress
- Burnout, Psychological
- Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
- Epidemiology
- Occupational Health
Data availability statement
Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available.
Footnotes
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Contributors AYG led the data analysis, interpretation and discussion of the results and writing of the manuscript. AYG is responsible for the overall content as the guarantor. LS provided expertise in data analysis and offered statistical support throughout the study, while also contributing significantly to manuscript revision. SEG was involved in interpreting the results, revising the manuscript and providing constructive feedback to enhance clarity and coherence. AC contributed to the conception of the project, participated in the interpretation and discussion of the results, and actively engaged in manuscript writing and revision processes.
Funding Production of this manuscript was supported by funding from icare New South Wales (icare) as part of a large (three years) project called “SMART Design for care”, which aims to prevent psychological injury by identifying SMART work design opportunities and challenges in collaboration with individuals, teams, and team leaders in the Health and Social care industry. icare is the largest public-sector insurer in Australia which provides WC insurance and care plans to more than 329,000 public and private sector employers in NSW, as well as their 3.2 million employees. Award/grant number: CTR-16464.
Disclaimer The funder was not involved in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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