Clinical tools to facilitate workplace accommodation after treatment for an upper extremity disorder

Failure to implement work site accommodations for work-related upper extremity disorders (WRUEDs) may be a factor contributing to delayed functional recovery and relapse. The present study describes the use of the 38-item Job Requirements and Physical Demands (JRPD) scale, a self-report measure of ergonomic exposure, and other case management tools to improve accommodation efforts for 101 workers (75 women, 26 men) returning to work after lost time related to a WRUED. Items were categorized into five subscales based on item content: administrative, computer-related, workstation design, environmental, and equipment. Administrative risk factors were elevated among office clerks, whereas postal clerks and letter carriers reported more workstation design risk factors, and letter carriers and electrical/mechanical workers cited more equipment-related risk factors (p < 0.05). All occupational categories rated computer-related risk factors highest. The Integrated Case Management (ICM) approach, which relies on the JRPD scale to guide recommendations, was used with a subgroup of these workers (n = 53), resulting in 1.4 times more workplace accommodations per worker than with a non-ICM approach. Clinical use of the self-reported exposure measure within the overall workplace accommodation process may have been a factor contributing to more frequent accommodation in the ICM group. This study of a subgroup of workers' compensation cases highlights the need for additional investigation of tools to integrate ergonomic approaches within the workplace accommodation process.