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The Association Between Case Manager Interactions and Serious Mental Illness Following a Physical Workplace Injury or Illness: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Claimants in Ontario

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Abstract

Poor mental health is a common occurrence among workers recovering from a work-related injury or illness. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to estimate the association between adverse interactions with workers’ compensation case managers and experiencing a serious mental illness 18-months following a workplace injury or illness. A cohort of 996 workers’ compensation claimants in Ontario Canada were interviewed 18 months following a disabling work-related injury or illness. Perceptions of informational and interpersonal justice in case manager interactions were defined as the primary independent variables, and Kessler Psychological Distress (K6) scores greater than 12, indicative of a serious mental illness, was defined as the outcome. Multivariate modified Poisson models estimated the association between perceptions of adverse case manager interactions and a serious mental illness, following adjustment for sociodemographic and work characteristics and pre-injury mental health. The prevalence of serious mental illness at 18 months was 16.6%. Low perceptions of informational justice, reported by 14.4% of respondents, were associated with a 2.58 times higher risk of serious mental illness (95% CI 1.30–5.10). Moderate and low perceptions of interpersonal justice, reported by 44.1% and 9.2% of respondents respectively, were associated with a 2.01 and 3.57 times higher risk of serious mental illness (95% CI moderate: 1.18–3.44, 95% CI poor: 1.81–7.06). This study provides further support for the impact of poor interactions with claims case managers on mental health, highlighting the importance of open and fair communication with workers’ compensation claimants in ensuring timely recovery and return-to-work.

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Data Availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was funded by the Grants Program at the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, ON, M5T3M7, Canada

    Christa Orchard, Peter Smith & Cameron Mustard

  2. Institute for Work & Health, 481 University Ave Suite 800, Toronto, ON, M5G2E9, Canada

    Christa Orchard, Nancy Carnide, Peter Smith & Cameron Mustard

  3. School of Population Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 553 Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Peter Smith

Authors
  1. Christa Orchard
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  2. Nancy Carnide
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  3. Peter Smith
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  4. Cameron Mustard
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Correspondence to Christa Orchard.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Standards

This study was approved by the University of Toronto Health Sciences Research Ethics Board and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. All participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

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Orchard, C., Carnide, N., Smith, P. et al. The Association Between Case Manager Interactions and Serious Mental Illness Following a Physical Workplace Injury or Illness: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Claimants in Ontario. J Occup Rehabil 31, 895–902 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-021-09974-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-021-09974-7

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