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The role of ergonomic and psychosocial workplace factors in the reporting of back injuries among U.S. home health aides
Author(s) -
Arlinghaus Anna,
CabanMartinez Alberto J.,
Marino Miguel,
Reme Silje Endresen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22197
Subject(s) - psychosocial , medicine , logistic regression , human factors and ergonomics , occupational safety and health , gerontology , population , poison control , environmental health , psychiatry , pathology
Background Due to the aging population and a shift to patient home care, home health aides (HHAs) are a fast‐growing occupation. Since little is known about workplace risk factors for back injuries among HHAs, we examined the role of ergonomic and psychosocial factors in injury reporting among HHAs. Methods We used the 2007 U.S. National Home Health Aide Survey data (weighted n = 160,720) to predict the risk of back injuries by use of/need for ergonomic equipment and supervisor support with logistic regression, adjusted for socio‐demographic variables. Results The annual prevalence of back injuries for U.S. HHAs was 5.2%. Injury risk was increased in HHAs reporting the need of additional ergonomic equipment in patient homes, and marginally associated with low reported supervisor support. Conclusions Improvement of workplace ergonomic and psychosocial factors could be targeted as a strategy to decrease work‐related injuries in HHAs. Am. J. Ind. Med. 56:1239–1244, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.