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Date Available

2-4-2027

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Graduate Capstone Project

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)

College

Public Health

Department/School/Program

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Faculty

Steven Browning

Committee Member

Wayne Sanderson

Faculty

Caitlin Northcutt

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational disability is a major public health concern and cost burden. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between occupation, particularly coal mining and construction, and disability in Kentucky from 2005-2015.

Methods: A total of 300,923 Workers’ Compensation claims were received from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC). Binary logistic regression was used to estimate crude and adjusted odds ratios for disability as a binary outcome, and multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate crude and adjusted odds ratios for disability as a categorical outcome.

Results: The highest proportion of injuries being recorded among all industries in the study was located in the back, lower body, and upper body (other than neck and head injuries) regions. Both coal miners and construction workers had higher proportions of claimants who were reported to have a permanent disability. Before and after adjustment, coal miners (aOR = 1.301, 95% CI: 1.203, 1.407), but not construction workers (aOR = 0.949, 95% CI: 0.895, 1.006), were more likely to have permanent disability recorded in a workers’ compensation claim than all other industry groups. Coal miners were more likely to experience mild (aOR = 1.275, 95% CI: 1.1175, 1.384) and severe disability (aOR = 2.416, 95% CI: 1.756, 3.326), and construction workers were more likely to have a recorded moderate disability (aOR = 1.823 95% CI: 1.539, 2.158) after an occupational injury.

Discussion/Conclusions: While the results of this study have limited generalizability due to the nature of working with workers’ compensation claims data, the findings that coal miners are more likely to have a reported disability and increased likelihood of reporting a mild or severe disability when compared to all other industries, and construction workers were more likely to have a reported disability and were more likely to have a reported moderate disability. These disparities highlight an area of burden within occupational epidemiology and suggest that stronger protection for coal miners and construction workers is needed.

Funding Information

Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center grant awardee (author)

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