Trends in Incidence of Work-Related Traumatic Limb Amputation in Korea, 2001 to 2013

Abstract

Background: Work-related traumatic limb amputation is one of the most devastating, but preventable injury. Knowing the incidence of injury and its trends is an important premise of prevention. However, no epidemiological study has been published recently in Korea. Objectives: To describe the trends in incidence of work-related traumatic limb amputation in Korea. Methods: Workers compensation claim data provided by Korea Workers Compensation and Welfare Service (KCOMWEL) from 2001 to 2013 were analyzed. Data included demographic information such as age, sex, nationality and occupation, workplace information such as industry sector and establishment size, and medical information about the amputation site. After data cleaning process, the incidence was directly calculated and subgroup analysis was done by affected site, industry sector and establishment size. Results: This research discovered parabolic trends of incidence for work related traumatic limb amputation in Korea with peak incidence (47.83 claims per 100,000 workers) in 2006. Incidence of finger amputation increased until 44.90 claims per 100,000 workers in 2006 and then decreased to 27.71 claims per 100,000 workers. Incidence of severe limb amputation increased from 0.71 claims per 100,000 workers to 0.78 claims per 100,000 workers. 75.58% of all amputation claims came from manufacturing industry sector and the trend in incidence of this sector was parabolic. Smaller establishment size was, higher incidence was shown. Establishment with less than 5 employees in manufacturing sector showed the highest average incidence, 336.93 claims per 100,000 workers with peak of 424.70 claims per 100,000 workers in 2005. Conclusion: The incidence of work-related traumatic limb amputation in Korea increased until 2006 and then was decreasing. These parabolic trends was prominent among finger amputation and small establishment in manufacturing sector. Although finger amputations decreased, the incidence of severe limb amputation was stationary. Additional preventive strategies and specialized medical system are needed.