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Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process

When a worker is injured at work, he has to face a tough decision-making process about when and how to return to work (RTW). This study tests how the prospect theory can be applied to influence the injured workers’ perceptions about this important choice. One hundred forty-one injured workers were p...

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Autores principales: Lai, Hon Sun, Szeto, Grace PY, Chan, Chetwyn CH
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5304984/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28223852
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S119479
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author Lai, Hon Sun
Szeto, Grace PY
Chan, Chetwyn CH
author_facet Lai, Hon Sun
Szeto, Grace PY
Chan, Chetwyn CH
author_sort Lai, Hon Sun
collection PubMed
description When a worker is injured at work, he has to face a tough decision-making process about when and how to return to work (RTW). This study tests how the prospect theory can be applied to influence the injured workers’ perceptions about this important choice. One hundred forty-one injured workers were presented with wage- and pain-related information in four different message framing (negatively or positively) and precision (smaller or larger number) conditions. After exposure to the specific combination of this wage and pain information, the participants were asked to express intentions to RTW in terms of perceived chance, confidence, and anticipated sick leave duration. When asked to predict their RTW outcome, 101 participants (72.3%) responded favorably, whereas only 40 (27.7%) indicated an expectation for staying on sick leave. The present results did not show significant differences in the participants’ responses to the positively and negatively framed information about wage and pain. However, it was noted that the control group that was presented with positive framing for both “wage” and “pain” information showed higher scores in expectation and confidence for RTW, whereas the Ambivalent Group that had both negative messages showed lower scores. Seventy-nine participants who had ≥60% perceived improvement in condition were selected for further analysis, and those who were presented with “wage loss” information rated significantly higher perceived chance of RTW than those in the “pain gain” group. More in-depth investigation is warranted on this topic, with a larger sample of injured workers to investigate the effects of message framing on the decision-making process about RTW.
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spelling pubmed-53049842017-02-21 Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process Lai, Hon Sun Szeto, Grace PY Chan, Chetwyn CH Risk Manag Healthc Policy Original Research When a worker is injured at work, he has to face a tough decision-making process about when and how to return to work (RTW). This study tests how the prospect theory can be applied to influence the injured workers’ perceptions about this important choice. One hundred forty-one injured workers were presented with wage- and pain-related information in four different message framing (negatively or positively) and precision (smaller or larger number) conditions. After exposure to the specific combination of this wage and pain information, the participants were asked to express intentions to RTW in terms of perceived chance, confidence, and anticipated sick leave duration. When asked to predict their RTW outcome, 101 participants (72.3%) responded favorably, whereas only 40 (27.7%) indicated an expectation for staying on sick leave. The present results did not show significant differences in the participants’ responses to the positively and negatively framed information about wage and pain. However, it was noted that the control group that was presented with positive framing for both “wage” and “pain” information showed higher scores in expectation and confidence for RTW, whereas the Ambivalent Group that had both negative messages showed lower scores. Seventy-nine participants who had ≥60% perceived improvement in condition were selected for further analysis, and those who were presented with “wage loss” information rated significantly higher perceived chance of RTW than those in the “pain gain” group. More in-depth investigation is warranted on this topic, with a larger sample of injured workers to investigate the effects of message framing on the decision-making process about RTW. Dove Medical Press 2017-02-07 /pmc/articles/PMC5304984/ /pubmed/28223852 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S119479 Text en © 2017 Lai et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Original Research
Lai, Hon Sun
Szeto, Grace PY
Chan, Chetwyn CH
Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
title Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
title_full Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
title_fullStr Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
title_full_unstemmed Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
title_short Injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
title_sort injured workers’ perception of loss and gain in the return to work process
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5304984/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28223852
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S119479
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