Psychosocial factors contributing to occupational injuries among direct care workers

Direct care workers have the highest injury rate in the United States, primarily due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. This study examined the effect of psychosocial factors (i.e., stress, job satisfaction, organizational climate, safety climate, and training) on direct care workers' injuries. On the basis of divergent work characteristics of direct care workers in facilities versus private homes, injury rates were found to be significantly different between workplaces (x(2) = 4.179, df = 1, p = .041). Tenure (77% of injuries occurred after 1 year of tenure) was significantly correlated with training, satisfaction, organizational climate, and stress. Because of the chronic nature of musculoskeletal disorders, tenure was used to choose cases for injury prediction using logistic regression. When tenure was greater than 1 year, job satisfaction [Exp(B) = 0.048, p = .028] was a predictor of injury and when tenure was greater than 3 years, both job satisfaction [Exp(B) = 0.002, p = .033] and training [Exp(B) = 31.821, p = .044] were predictors of injury. Psychosocial factors and home- versus facility-based workplaces should be considered to improve injury rates and retention among direct care workers.