Authors?? Response

Abstract

To the Editor: Professor Oleinick provides clarification on the findings of his paper, which supported the use of Minnesota workers' compensation cases with days away from work (DAFW) for epidemiologic study.1 We appreciate his comments and agree that workers' compensation systems data, with recognition of their limitations, are often informative for policy purposes and epidemiologic study.2,3 As we discussed in our paper, lack of certainty about case eligibility for workers' compensation and lack of information on severity could influence estimates of underreporting.4 Eligibility requirements for workers' compensation coverage vary by state. Nevertheless, it is likely that even serious injuries and illnesses with DAFW are underreported to workers' compensation systems and other systems used for epidemiologic study. For example, in Michigan, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey and Workers' Compensation systems both missed approximately 18% of injury or illness cases involving greater than 7 days away from work.5 We suggest that further investigations are needed on the factors that influence underreporting of serious and less serious occupational injury and illness to state workers' compensation systems. Z. Joyce Fan, PhD David Bonauto, MD, MPH Michael Foley, MA Barbara Silverstein, PhD, MPH, CPE Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention Program (SHARP) Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Olympia, Washington