Table 1.
Socio-demographic and injury characteristics of NSW MVC claimants 2011–2013
| Musculoskeletal injury | Musculoskeletal injury+psych distress | ||
| Variable | (n=5734) | (n=607) | p |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 42.8 (16.3) | 44.4 (15.9) | 0.02 |
| New Injury Severity Score, n (%) | 0.02 | ||
| Minor–moderate 1–8 | 5259 (91.9) | 539 (88.8) | |
| Serious 9–15 | 348 (6.1) | 54 (8.9) | |
| Severe–critical 16–75 | 114 (2.0) | 14 (2.3) | |
| Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage, mean (SD) | 1017.0 (86.4) | 986.5 (89.2) | <0.01 |
| Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage, n (%) | <0.01 | ||
| Most disadvantaged | 983 (17.4) | 182 (30.3) | |
| Disadvantaged | 803 (14.2) | 72 (12.5) | |
| Average | 1007 (17.8) | 113 (18.8) | |
| Advantaged | 853 (15.1) | 95 (15.8) | |
| Most advantaged | 1996 (35.4) | 136 (22.6) | |
| Male, n (%) | 2417 (42.2) | 212 (34.9) | <0.01 |
| Employment status, n (%) (yes) | 4197 (73.2) | 364 (60.0) | <0.01 |
| Occupation skill level, n (%) | <0.01 | ||
| Managers and administrators | 567 (9.9) | 34 (5.6) | |
| Professionals | 1026 (17.9) | 34 (5.6) | |
| Para-professionals | 213 (3.7) | 74 (12.2) | |
| Tradespersons | 257 (4.5) | 17 (12.2) | |
| Clerks | 600 (10.5) | 26 (4.3) | |
| Sales persons and personal service workers | 680 (11.9) | 63 (10.4) | |
| Plant and machine operators and drivers | 225 (3.9) | 64 (10.5) | |
| Labourers and related workers | 537 (9.4) | 22 (3.6) | |
| At fault* (no), n (%) | 4866 (87.9) | 568 (96.1) | <0.01 |
| Prior claim (yes), n (%) | 620 (10.8) | 86 (14.2) | 0.012 |
| Economic loss claim (no), n (%) | 3101 (54.1) | 329 (54.2) | 0.96 |
| Weekly earnings, mean (SD) | 1212.4 (2832.6) | 1001.4 (659.4) | 0.23 |
| Legal representation (yes), n (%) | 1085 (18.9) | 370 (61.0) | <0.01 |
| Accident notification (days), mean (SD) | 22.6 (22.9) | 23.9 (21.4) | 0.32 |
| Notification of claim (days), mean (SD) | 112.7 (86.7) | 97.5 (69.1) | <0.01 |
| Rehabilitation indicator, n (%) | <0.01 | ||
| Required | 398 (6.9) | 127 (20.9) | |
| Possibly required | 2920 (50.9) | 287 (47.3) | |
| Not required | 1844 (32.2) | 171 (28.2) | |
| Role | <0.01 | ||
| Driver | 3764 (65.6) | 386 (63.6) | |
| Passenger | 1120 (19.5) | 156 (25.7) | |
| Rider | 404 (7.0) | 23 (3.8) | |
| Pillion | 22 (0.4) | 2 (0.3) | |
| Pedestrian | 237 (4.1) | 30 (4.9) | |
| Cyclist | 159 (2.8) | 7 (1.2) | |
| Other | 28 (0.5) | 3 (0.5) | |
| Ambulance (yes) | 2179 (38.0) | 300 (49.4) | <0.01 |
| Hospital (yes) | 1405 (24.5) | 173 (28.5) | <0.01 |
For some variables there were missing values; total number will therefore not always equal 6341.
*At-fault claims are minor claims that are capped at payment of $A5000.00.