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Musculoskeletal Injury

A Three-Stage Continuum from Cause to Disability to Decision

  • Chapter
Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims

Abstract

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) (2000) defines a musculoskeletal disorder as an injury or disorder of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs. A report by the DOL in 2000 revealed 593,000 musculoskeletal disorders were reported in the U.S. in 1998, with an average of five work days lost per injury claim (U.S. Department of Labor, 2000). Andersson, Pope and Frymoyer (1984) found a lifetime incidence of spinal disorders ranging from 51.4% to 70%. A report by the National Research Council (National Research Council, 2001) revealed that approximately 1 million American workers took time of work due to the occurrence of at least one musculoskeletal disorder in 1999, resulting in over $50 billion worth of lost time from work. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was predicted to increase to 18.4% in 2002 (Linton, 2002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Anesthesiology and Pain Management, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas

    Anna Wright Stowell

  2. Clinical Health Psychology Wilford Hall Medical Center 59th MDOS/MMCPH, San Entario, Texas

    Donald D. McGeary

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  1. Anna Wright Stowell
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  2. Donald D. McGeary
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Counselling Psychology & Special Education, University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Hall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Izabela Z. Schultz

  2. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX, 75235, USA

    Robert J. Gatchel

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Stowell, A.W., McGeary, D.D. (2008). Musculoskeletal Injury. In: Schultz, I.Z., Gatchel, R.J. (eds) Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-28919-4_6

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