Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review

Abstract Background Accurate identification of work-related health problems is important to understand workplace safety issues and develop appropriate interventions. Although workers’ reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses is the very first step of the reporting process, many workers may en...

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Main Authors: MinJung Kyung, Soo-Jeong Lee, Caroline Dancu, OiSaeng Hong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-03-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15487-0
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author MinJung Kyung
Soo-Jeong Lee
Caroline Dancu
OiSaeng Hong
author_facet MinJung Kyung
Soo-Jeong Lee
Caroline Dancu
OiSaeng Hong
author_sort MinJung Kyung
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Accurate identification of work-related health problems is important to understand workplace safety issues and develop appropriate interventions. Although workers’ reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses is the very first step of the reporting process, many workers may encounter challenges in reporting them to their management or workers’ compensation (WC) programs. This systematic review aimed to identify the level of workers’ underreporting of work-related injuries and illnesses and the contributing factors and reasons for underreporting among US workers. Methods This study searched PubMed (Medline), PsycINFO (ProQuest), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), EMBASE (Embase.com), and Social Science Citation Index (Web of Science) using search terms related to underreporting of work-related injury or illness. Results Twenty studies (17 quantitative and three mixed methods studies) were identified. The studies investigated reporting to management (n = 12), WC programs (n = 6), multiple organizations (n = 1), and not specified (n = 1). The timeframe used to measure reporting prevalence varied from three months to entire careers of workers, with the most common timeframe of 12 months. This review indicated that 20–91% of workers did not report their injuries or illnesses to management or WC programs. From quantitative studies, contributing factors for injury or illness underreporting were categorized as follows: injury type and severity, sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, gender, education, and race/ethnicity), general health and functioning, worker’s knowledge on reporting, job and employment characteristics (e.g., work hour, job tenure, work shift, type of occupation, and physical demand), psychosocial work environment (e.g., supervisor support, coworker support, and safety climate), and health care provider factors. From the review of qualitative studies, the reasons for underreporting included the following: fear or concern, cumbersome time and effort in the reporting process, lack of knowledge regarding reporting, perceptions of injuries as not severe or part of the job, and distrust of reporting consequences. Conclusions The review findings indicated that low wage earners, racial/ethnic minority workers, and workers who perceive a poor psychosocial work environment encounter more barriers to reporting a work-related injury or illness. This review also identified variations in the measurement of work-related injury reporting across studies and a lack of standardized measurement. Trial registration The review was registered in the PROSPERO, an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care (CRD42021284685).
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spelling doaj.art-5f99926d28984226816afe1cd03d85be2023-03-26T11:19:13ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-03-0123111610.1186/s12889-023-15487-0Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic reviewMinJung Kyung0Soo-Jeong Lee1Caroline Dancu2OiSaeng Hong3Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California San FranciscoDepartment of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California San FranciscoDepartment of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California San FranciscoDepartment of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California San FranciscoAbstract Background Accurate identification of work-related health problems is important to understand workplace safety issues and develop appropriate interventions. Although workers’ reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses is the very first step of the reporting process, many workers may encounter challenges in reporting them to their management or workers’ compensation (WC) programs. This systematic review aimed to identify the level of workers’ underreporting of work-related injuries and illnesses and the contributing factors and reasons for underreporting among US workers. Methods This study searched PubMed (Medline), PsycINFO (ProQuest), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), EMBASE (Embase.com), and Social Science Citation Index (Web of Science) using search terms related to underreporting of work-related injury or illness. Results Twenty studies (17 quantitative and three mixed methods studies) were identified. The studies investigated reporting to management (n = 12), WC programs (n = 6), multiple organizations (n = 1), and not specified (n = 1). The timeframe used to measure reporting prevalence varied from three months to entire careers of workers, with the most common timeframe of 12 months. This review indicated that 20–91% of workers did not report their injuries or illnesses to management or WC programs. From quantitative studies, contributing factors for injury or illness underreporting were categorized as follows: injury type and severity, sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, gender, education, and race/ethnicity), general health and functioning, worker’s knowledge on reporting, job and employment characteristics (e.g., work hour, job tenure, work shift, type of occupation, and physical demand), psychosocial work environment (e.g., supervisor support, coworker support, and safety climate), and health care provider factors. From the review of qualitative studies, the reasons for underreporting included the following: fear or concern, cumbersome time and effort in the reporting process, lack of knowledge regarding reporting, perceptions of injuries as not severe or part of the job, and distrust of reporting consequences. Conclusions The review findings indicated that low wage earners, racial/ethnic minority workers, and workers who perceive a poor psychosocial work environment encounter more barriers to reporting a work-related injury or illness. This review also identified variations in the measurement of work-related injury reporting across studies and a lack of standardized measurement. Trial registration The review was registered in the PROSPERO, an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care (CRD42021284685).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15487-0Mandatory reportingUnderreportingOccupational accidentWork-related illnessWorkers’ compensation
spellingShingle MinJung Kyung
Soo-Jeong Lee
Caroline Dancu
OiSaeng Hong
Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review
BMC Public Health
Mandatory reporting
Underreporting
Occupational accident
Work-related illness
Workers’ compensation
title Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review
title_full Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review
title_fullStr Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review
title_short Underreporting of workers’ injuries or illnesses and contributing factors: a systematic review
title_sort underreporting of workers injuries or illnesses and contributing factors a systematic review
topic Mandatory reporting
Underreporting
Occupational accident
Work-related illness
Workers’ compensation
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15487-0
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