RESULTS: One hundred and forty (28%) of 495 surveys were returned, with representation from all orthopaedic subspecialties. Sixty-one (44%) of the respondents reported sustaining one or more injuries at the workplace during their career. A significant association was found between years performing surgery and prevalence of injury (p = 0.03), with surgeons working between twenty-one and thirty years reporting the most injuries. Twenty-five percent of respondents reported sustaining an injury to the hand; 19%, to the lower back; 10%, to the neck; 7%, to the shoulder; and 6%, to another area. Fourteen (10%) of all surgeons reported missing work as a result of a workplace injury, with five (4%) missing at least three weeks. Twenty-three surgeons (38% of injured respondents) reported that no institutional resources were available to support their recovery from the injury.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first of its kind, to our knowledge, to demonstrate that many orthopaedic surgeons sustain occupational injuries during their careers. The volume of work missed suggests that occupational injury has economic implications for the health-care system and providers. Given the number of injured respondents reporting no institutional support for occupational injuries, more attention should be focused on this issue.
PMID: 23925752 [PubMed - in process]
Read more... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23925752?dopt=Abstract
