Abstract: “The identification of the potential determinants would be helpful in improving return to work (RTW) rate following injury. The aim of this study is to examine the associations between RTW outcomes and demographic, injury-related, and pre-injury job characteristics among injured workers in South Korea. This study employed the first wave data from the Panel Study of Worker’s Compensation Insurance, and the sample were 1,993 injured workers in 2012. Two-step cluster analysis was carried out to profile pre-injury job characteristics including average monthly wage, work period, the number of employees, contract type, and working hours in the pre-injury firm. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine the associations between return to work outcomes and socio-demographic, injury related, and pre-injury job characteristics. Two clusters were identified: Injured workers (n=995, 49.9%) profiled in the first cluster were more likely than those of the second cluster (n=998, 50.1%) t”

Keywords: Return to work, Injured workers, Pre-injury, Pre-injury job characteristics, vocational rehabilitation, Two-step cluster analysis