Repository logo
HARVEST
 

The effect of a transfer, lifting and repositioning (TLR) injury prevention program on musculoskeletal injury rates among direct care workers

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorLim, Hyun J.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKoehncke, Nielsen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBusch, Angelaen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberAbonyi, Sylviaen_US
dc.creatorBlack, Timothyen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-01-16T13:22:11Zen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-04T04:24:02Z
dc.date.available2010-01-21T08:00:00Zen_US
dc.date.available2013-01-04T04:24:02Z
dc.date.created2009en_US
dc.date.issued2009en_US
dc.date.submitted2009en_US
dc.description.abstractProblem Statement: The burden of musculoskeletal injuries among workers is very high, particularly so in direct care workers involved in patient handling. Efforts to reduce injuries have shown mixed results. Strong evidence for intervention effectiveness is lacking. Specific Aims: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a patient handling injury prevention program implemented in the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) comparing it with a non-randomized control group, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR), in a pre-post design. Injury rates, lost-time days, and claim costs were the outcomes of interest. Intervention: A Transfer, Lifting and Repositioning (TLR) program, consisting of engineering and administrative ergonomic controls, was implemented in SHR hospitals from 2002-2005. Methods: Data on time loss and non-time loss injuries, lost time days, and claims costs were collected from the SHR and RQHR for corresponding time periods one year pre and one year post-intervention. Age, length of service, profession, and sex were selected as covariates. Full Time Equivalents (FTE) data were collected for each time period. Univariate and multivariate Poisson regression were performed. Results: Rates for all injuries (number of injuries/100 FTE) dropped from 14.68 pre-intervention to 8.1 post-intervention. Control group all injury rates, while overall lower in absolute value, dropped to a lesser degree, from 9.29 to 8.4. Time loss injury rates decreased from 5.3 to 2.51 in the SHR, while they actually increased from 5.87 to 6.46 in the RQHR, for the same intervention periods. Poisson regression showed the greatest reduction in injury rate, both time loss (Rate ratio=0.48, 95% C.I: 0.34-0.68) and non-time loss (Rate Ratio=0.25, 95% C.I: 0.15-0.41) in the smaller long term care facility controlling for hospital size. Analysis of injury rates, incidence rate ratios, and incidence rate differences showed significant differences between the intervention and comparison group for all injuries and time loss injuries. Mean claim cost/injury decreased from $3906.20 to $2200.80 and mean time loss days/claim decreased from 35.87 days to 16.23 days for the SHR. Conclusions: The study provides evidence for the effectiveness of a multi-factor TLR program for direct-care health workers, and emphasizes their implementation, especially in smaller hospitals.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-01162009-132211en_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectdirect care workersen_US
dc.subjecthospital workersen_US
dc.subjectpatient handlingen_US
dc.subjectmusculoskeletal injuriesen_US
dc.subjectinjury preventionen_US
dc.subjectoccupational healthen_US
dc.subjectergonomicsen_US
dc.titleThe effect of a transfer, lifting and repositioning (TLR) injury prevention program on musculoskeletal injury rates among direct care workersen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
dc.type.materialtexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentCommunity Health and Epidemiologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineCommunity Health and Epidemiologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Saskatchewanen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.Sc.)en_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
timblack_Thesis_Final.pdf
Size:
3.69 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Thumbnail Image
Name:
patterson_medical_image_release.pdf
Size:
18.97 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
905 B
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download

Collections

Graduate Theses and Dissertations