Average of 11 Work Days Lost Due to Injury Per Person in U.S.

TUESDAY, May 5, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Nonfatal injuries are costly, with a per-person average of approximately 11 lost work days and a value of $1,560 per year in the United States, according to a study published online May 4 in Injury Prevention.

Cora Peterson, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues estimated the attributable average number and value of lost work days in the year following nonfatal emergency department-treated injuries by injury mechanism and body region among individuals age 18 to 64 years with employer health insurance. Workplace, short-term disability, and workers’ compensation absences were examined for those injured from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015.

The researchers found that the one-year per-person average number of lost work days attributed to all types of nonfatal injuries was about 11 days, and the value was $1,590. The range was 1.5 days for bites and stings to 44.1 days for motorcycle injuries, with corresponding values of $210 to $6,196. The number of lost days varied from 4.0 days for other head, face, and neck injuries to 19.8 days for traumatic brain injuries, with corresponding values of $567 to $2,787.

“Nonfatal injuries are preventable and incur substantial lost work productivity at a high cost to individuals, employers, and society,” the authors write. “Accurate information on lost work productivity due to injuries is important to monitor the economic burden of injuries and help to prioritize cost-effective public health prevention activities.”

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