Are There Differences in Return-to-Work Experiences for Workers Who Acquired COVID-19 at Work Compared to Workers who Sustained a Non-COVID-19 Work-Related Injury or Illness?

PURPOSE: To compare rates of return to work (RTW), at 18 months post-injury/infection, between workers with an absence from work due to COVID-19 and those with non-COVID injuries and illnesses, and to examine if RTW differences are explained by different factors in the RTW process. METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted among 18,000 workers with accepted lost-time workers' compensation claims 18 months after their claim acceptance: 607 with work-related COVID-19 infections (oversampled) and 393 with other work-related injuries/illnesses. Potential outcome mediation models examined factors at the individual, workplace, healthcare provider, and system level involved in differences in RTW between workers with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 claims, adjusting for a range of confounders. RESULTS: At 18 months post-injury, approximately 13 more workers with COVID-19 infections were at work, per 100 workers, compared to those with other injuries or illnesses. Differences in self-rated health, experiencing financial difficulties, and disagreement with the workers' compensation agency, explained between 12 and 21% of these total differences (between 1 and 2 more workers returning to work per 100 workers). Other mediators explained relatively little of the total effect. CONCLUSION: Workers with work-related COVID-19 infections have better RTW rates, 18 months post-injury, compared to workers with other types of work-related injuries. The results of our study suggest that factors identified as important for RTW at the workplace and healthcare provider level may not be generalizable to the context of COVID-19 infections, within the context of the COVID pandemic.