TABLE I.
Worker, injury, job, and vocational rehabilitation characteristics, by degree of impairment (N=43,114)
| Variable | Total (N=43,114) |
No PPD award (n=31,912) |
WBI <10% (n=8,404) |
WBI ≥10% (n=2,798) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Body part | ||||||||
| Spine/neck | 11,250 | 26.1 | 8,671 | 27.2 | 1,233 | 14.7 | 1,346 | 48.1 |
| Upper extremity | 14,273 | 33.1 | 9,195 | 28.8 | 4,418 | 52.6 | 660 | 23.6 |
| Lower extremity | 9,635 | 22.3 | 6,692 | 21.0 | 2,640 | 31.4 | 303 | 10.8 |
| Other/multiple | 7,956 | 18.5 | 7,354 | 23.0 | 113 | 1.3 | 489 | 17.5 |
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male | 24,497 | 56.8 | 17,841 | 55.9 | 4,980 | 59.3 | 1,676 | 59.9 |
| Female | 18,617 | 43.2 | 14,071 | 44.1 | 3,424 | 40.7 | 1,122 | 40.1 |
| Age | ||||||||
| 18–24 | 9,433 | 21.9 | 7,911 | 24.8 | 1,206 | 14.3 | 316 | 11.3 |
| 25–34 | 13,162 | 30.5 | 10,241 | 32.1 | 2,223 | 26.5 | 698 | 25.0 |
| 35–44 | 8,828 | 20.5 | 6,158 | 19.3 | 1,945 | 23.1 | 725 | 25.9 |
| 45–54 | 6,877 | 15.9 | 4,512 | 14.1 | 1,743 | 20.7 | 622 | 22.2 |
| 55–64 | 3,959 | 9.2 | 2,554 | 8.0 | 1,047 | 12.5 | 358 | 12.8 |
| ≥65 | 855 | 2.0 | 536 | 1.7 | 240 | 2.9 | 79 | 2.8 |
| Preferred language | ||||||||
| English | 35,817 | 83.1 | 27,113 | 85.0 | 6,544 | 77.9 | 2,160 | 77.2 |
| Spanish | 5,990 | 13.9 | 3,841 | 12.0 | 1,592 | 18.9 | 557 | 19.9 |
| Other | 1,207 | 3.0 | 958 | 3.0 | 268 | 3.2 | 81 | 2.9 |
| Urban-rural residence county | ||||||||
| Large central metropolitan | 11,487 | 26.6 | 8,878 | 27.8 | 2,059 | 24.5 | 550 | 19.7 |
| Large fringe metropolitan | 12,750 | 29.6 | 9,408 | 29.5 | 2,489 | 29.6 | 853 | 30.5 |
| Medium metropolitan | 8,202 | 19.0 | 6,036 | 18.9 | 1,587 | 18.9 | 579 | 20.7 |
| Small metropolitan | 5,820 | 13.5 | 4,023 | 12.6 | 1,293 | 15.4 | 504 | 18.0 |
| Micropolitan | 3,844 | 8.9 | 2,806 | 8.8 | 780 | 9.3 | 258 | 9.2 |
| Noncore | 1,011 | 2.4 | 761 | 2.4 | 196 | 2.3 | 54 | 1.9 |
| Employer size | ||||||||
| Small (<50 FTE employees) | 19,554 | 45.4 | 14,056 | 44.0 | 4,062 | 48.3 | 1,436 | 51.3 |
| Large (≥50 FTE employees) | 23,560 | 54.6 | 17,856 | 56.0 | 4,342 | 51.7 | 1,362 | 48.7 |
| Industry sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Hunting | 3,002 | 7.0 | 2,052 | 6.4 | 703 | 8.4 | 247 | 8.8 |
| Construction, Utilities, Mining | 4,747 | 11.0 | 2,987 | 9.4 | 1,268 | 15.1 | 492 | 17.6 |
| Manufacturing | 3,107 | 7.2 | 2,147 | 6.7 | 747 | 8.9 | 213 | 7.6 |
| Retail/Wholesale Trade | 6,794 | 15.7 | 5,099 | 16.0 | 1,297 | 15.4 | 398 | 14.2 |
| Transportation, Warehousing | 2,367 | 5.5 | 1,864 | 5.8 | 359 | 4.3 | 144 | 5.2 |
| Information, Finance, Real Estate, Professional | 2,798 | 6.5 | 2,029 | 6.4 | 590 | 7.0 | 179 | 6.4 |
| Administrative, Support, Other Services | 7,671 | 17.8 | 5,766 | 18.1 | 1,433 | 17.1 | 472 | 16.9 |
| Education, Health Care, Social Services | 7,108 | 16.5 | 5,561 | 17.4 | 1,147 | 13.6 | 400 | 14.3 |
| Arts, Entertainment, Hospitality | 5,520 | 12.8 | 4,407 | 13.8 | 860 | 10.2 | 253 | 9.0 |
| Vocational retraining plan subseta | (N=1,242) | (n=134) | (n=579) | (n=529) | ||||
| Plan not completed | 748 | 60.2 | 66 | 49.3 | 343 | 59.2 | 339 | 64.1 |
| Plan completed | 494 | 39.8 | 68 | 50.7 | 236 | 40.8 | 190 | 35.9 |
| Vocational retraining approach subsetb | (N=1,209) | (n=128) | (n=566) | (n=515) | ||||
| Conventional vocational retraining plan | 577 | 47.7 | 80 | 62.5 | 283 | 50.0 | 214 | 41.6 |
| Option 2: Self-directed retraining funds | 632 | 52.3 | 48 | 37.5 | 283 | 50.0 | 301 | 58.4 |
Note: All variables in Table I were significantly associated with degree of impairment (P<.001 for all variables, with exception of P=.006 for vocational retraining plan completion).
Abbreviations: FTE, full-time equivalent; PPD, permanent partial disability; WBI, whole body impairment.
a
Conditional on having an approved vocational retraining plan and not having selected Option 2.
b
Conditional on having an approved vocational retraining plan (completed or not completed) and availability of Option 2 before first claim closure.