TABLE 3.

Number of Workers’ Compensation Disease Claims in 16 States^a

	Number of Casesb
1. Inflammation (e.g., tendonitis)	15,984
2. Carpal tunnel syndrome	15,878
3. Hernia	12,378
4. Dermatitis	3,103
5. Loss of hearing due to disease	2,715
6. Respiratory disorders	2,706
7. Mental stress	2,272
8. All other occupational diseases	1,285
9. Poisoning (chemical, metal, other)	1,281
10. Infection	1,082
11. Mental disorders	866
12. Myocardial infarction	528
13. Asbestosis	215
14. Vascular loss	197
15. Vision loss	158
16. Dust disease (all other pneumoconioses)	133
17. VDT-related disease	96
18. Angina pectoris	77
19. Cancer, including mesothelioma	52
20. Contagious diseases	30
Total disease cases (1 to 20)	61,036
Percentage contribution of all diseases (not just 1 through 20) to total WC cases	8.05%
Total for all WC injuries and illnesses	759,330

^aThe states are Arkansas (1996), California (1998), Colorado (1999), Maine (1999), Minnesota (1999), Mississippi (2002), New Mexico (2002), New York (2001), North Dakota (2000), Oregon (1999), Rhode Island (1999), South Carolina (2002), Texas (1999), Virginia (2001), Washington (1999), and Wisconsin (2002). At least three states from each of the four regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) are represented. Most states reported data only for disabling cases, that is, those involving three to seven lost WC workdays. Some states (Arkansas, California) also include a “medical only” category. Therefore, the unit of measurement (at least one lost day in BLS; three to seven lost days in WC) is not the same for Tables 3 and 5.

^bState departments, bureaus, and divisions for workers’ compensation and for industry and industrial relations use the ANSI codes for classifying disease. The BLS codes are similar, but the ANSI and BLS codes do not match perfectly. Reporting and publishing data on accepted or denied WC claims were inconsistent across the states. The following states reported data on accepted claims (only): California, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. The following states combined accepted with denied claims: Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas. A high percentage of claims were likely accepted in these states. For example, in North Dakota, 91.2% were accepted and 8.8% were denied. In Colorado, 21.5% were denied in 1999. We included Arkansas through Texas in this table to broaden our representation of the United States.