Experiences of Healthcare in Australia's Workers' Compensation Schemes: A Cross-Sectional Study

To determine personal, injury, and scheme factors are associated with experiencing stressful healthcare provider (HCP) interactions, and to determine impact of stressful HCP interactions on return to work (RTW).

Using the 2018 National RTW Survey of 4574 injured workers that submitted a workers' compensation claim, multivariable logistic regression determined factors associated with stressful HCP interactions (recorded as "a bit stressful" to "extremely stressful") and RTW (self-reported yes/no at interview).

Workers claiming for mental illness, who found healthcare difficult to access, who consulted with multiple HCPs, and who experienced psychological or financial stress, were significantly more likely to experience stressful HCP interactions. Stressful HCP interactions were associated with lower odds of RTW.

Findings provide impetus to investigate why HCP interactions are stressful to enable efforts to reduce stress, possibly improving RTW outcomes.