Work–life prevalence of self-reported occupational injuries in mothers of a birth cohort

Abstract

Purpose. This study investigated self-reported occupational injuries among mothers in a large birth cohort study and the relation of their characteristics to different injury outcomes: occurrence, severity, temporal proximity and recurrence. Methods. We asked 4338 women whether they had been in ‘an accident at work, even if it did not require medical treatment’, and the number of accidents throughout their working life, type of injury and whether it occurred within the last 12 months. Results. Over one-fifth (21.8%) of working-age mothers reported having at least one occupational injury throughout their working life. Wounds and superficial injuries were the most frequently reported types of occupational injuries (11.0%), followed by dislocated bones and joints, sprains and strains (10.7%). Women who reported a history of occupational injuries also had a higher likelihood of reporting a work-related health problem (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.64; 95% confidence interval [CI] [2.27, 3.07]) and of having a partner who also reported an occupational injury throughout their working life (adjusted OR = 1.86; 95% CI [1.33, 2.62]). Associations remained fairly stable across all outcomes. Conclusions. Our findings point towards a broadened understanding of occupational injury consequences and research focusing on family-level factors that account for the embeddedness of workers in households.

Keywords:

• cohort study
• women's health
• occupational injuries

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the families enrolled in Generation XXI for their kindness, the members of the research team for their enthusiasm and perseverance, and the participating hospitals and their staff for their help and support. They also thank Henrique Barros and Ana Cristina Santos for their role in the coordination of the Generation XXI cohort and the field work team for their dedication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data and research materials

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2020.1832353

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization; national funding from Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) – Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education under the projects ‘STEPACHE – Raízes pediátricas da resposta ampliada à dor: das influências contextuais à estratificação do risco’ (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029087) [Ref. FCT PTDC/SAU-EPI/29087/2017], ‘HIneC: Quando se revelam as desigualdades em saúde?’ (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029567) [Ref. FCT PTDC/SAU-PUB/29567/2017]; Epidemiology Research Unit – Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006862; UID/DTP/04750/2019); ; Administração Regional de Saúde Norte (Regional Department of Ministry of Health) and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian; PhD grant (Joana Amaro) co-funded by the FCT and Human Potential Operating Program of the European Social Fund (POPH/FSE Program) [PD/BD/128009/2016]; a result of the project DOCnet: Diabetes & obesity at the crossroads between Oncological and Cardiovascular diseases – a system analysis NETwork towards precision medicine (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000003).