LAUSR

Purpose To identify patterns of health care use in truck drivers with work-related injury or illness and to identify demographic, occupation, injury/condition, claim and geographic factors associated with patterns of care. Method 13 371 accepted workers compensation claims from truck drivers lodged between 2004 and 2013 in the state of Victoria were included. Episodes of health care were categorised according to practitioner type as General Practitioner (GP), Specialist Physician, Mental Health, Surgery, Return to Work, or Physical Therapy. Latent class analysis was used to identify and characterise the distinct profiles of users with different patterns of health service use. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the associations between latent class and predictors including demographic, claim and injury-related factors. Results Four profiles of heath service use were identified: (1) Low Service Users (55% of the sample) were more likely to be younger, have an injury that did not result in time off work and have conditions other than a musculoskeletal injury; (2) High Service Users (10%) tended to be those who were aged between 45 and 64 years, lived in major cities and had musculoskeletal conditions that resulted in time off work; (3) Physical Therapy Users (25%) were more likely to be aged between 45 and 64 years, live in major cities and have non-traumatic injuries that resulted in time off work; and (4) GP/Mental Health Users (10%) were more likely to be over 24 years of age, from the lowest socio-economic band, be employed by smaller organisations and be claiming benefits for a mental health condition. Conclusions It is possible to identify distinct patterns of health care use following work-related injury and disease using workers’ compensation claims data. Nature of injury/disease, sociodemographic characteristics and geographic proximity to health services affect patterns of care.