J Korean Med Sci.  2023 Sep;38(37):e284. 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e284.

Self-Esteem Trajectories After Occupational Injuries and Diseases and Their Relation to Changes in Subjective Health: Result From the Panel Study of Workers’ Compensation Insurance (PSWCI)

• Baek SU
• Lee WT
• Kim MS
• Lim MH
• Yoon JH
• Won JU

• KMID: 2546199
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e284

Abstract

Background
Occupational injuries and diseases are life events that significantly impact an individuals’ identity. In this study, we examined the trajectories of self-esteem among victims of occupational injury and disease and their relation to health.
Methods
The Panel Study of Workers’ Compensation Insurance conducted annual followups on workers who had experienced occupational injury or disease. A total of 2,000 participants, who had completed medical care, were followed from 2013 to 2017. Growth mixture modeling was utilized to identify latent classes in the self-esteem trajectory. Additionally, logistic regressions were conducted to explore the association between trajectory membership, baseline predictors, and outcomes.
Results
Three distinct trajectory classes were identified. Total 65.8% of the samples (n = 1,316) followed an increasing self-esteem trajectory, while 31.1% (n = 623) exhibited a constant trajectory, and 3.1% (n = 61) showed a decreasing trajectory. Individuals with an increasing trajectory were more likely to have a higher educational attainment (odds ratio [OR], 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20–2.88), an absence of a moderate-to-severe disability rating (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.25–0.96), no difficulty in daily living activities (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.75–0.88), and were economically active (re-employed: OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.52–3.98; returned to original work: OR, 4.46; 9% CI, 2.65–7.50). Those with a decreasing self-esteem trajectory exhibited an increased risk of poor subjective health (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 0.85–4.85 in 2013 to OR, 3.17; 95% CI, 1.04–13.81 in 2017), whereas individuals with an increasing trajectory showed a decreased risk (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.43–0.68 in 2013 to OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.33–0.57 in 2017).
Conclusion
Our findings emphasize the diversity of psychological responses to occupational injury or disease. Policymakers should implement interventions to enhance the self-esteem of victims.

Keyword

Psychological Health; Work-Related Injury; Work-Related Disease; Return-to-Work; Self-Rated Health

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Observed mean of RSES and estimated values for slopes from three-class growth mixture model.RSES = Rosenberg self-esteem scale.*P = 0.011; **P < 0.001.

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  Fig. 2 Associations between baseline characteristics and trajectory membership based on multinomial logistic regression.RTW = return-to-work.

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