Factors influencing the occupational injuries of physical therapists in Taiwan: A hierarchical linear model approach.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The evidence literature suggests that physical therapy practitioners are subjected to a high probability of acquiring work-related injuries, but only a few studies have specifically investigated Taiwanese physical therapy practitioners. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the relationships among individual and group hospital-level factors that contribute to the medical expenses for the occupational injuries of physical therapy practitioners in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: Physical therapy practitioners in Taiwan with occupational injuries were selected from the 2013 National Health Insurance Research Databases (NHIRD). METHODS: The age, gender, job title, hospitals attributes, and outpatient data of physical therapy practitioners who sustained an occupational injury in 2013 were obtained with SAS 9.3. SPSS 20.0 and HLM 7.01 were used to conduct descriptive and hierarchical linear model analyses, respectively. RESULTS: The job title of physical therapy practitioners at the individual level and the hospital type at the group level exert positive effects on per person medical expenses. Hospital hierarchy moderates the individual-level relationships of age and job title with the per person medical expenses. CONCLUSION: Considering that age, job title, and hospital hierarchy affect medical expenses for the occupational injuries of physical therapy practitioners, we suggest strengthening related safety education and training and elevating the self-awareness of the risk of occupational injuries of physical therapy practitioners to reduce and prevent the occurrence of such injuries.