Hand injury causes not only loss of hand function but also threaten the economic security of the patient and family. Goals of rehabilitation are to promote optimal function of the surgically repaired hand, and psychological adjustment and vocational adaptation are also important additional therapeutic concerns. This study attempted to assess the influences of the functional, psychological and socioeconomic factors on the return to work status following hand injury. Sixty five patients (63 males and 2 females) with an age range of 17 to 54 years were studied retrospectively. Among the hand injuries, 92.3% were caused by industrial machinery, and 83.0% of them were crushing and amputation injuries. The return to work status of the subjects fall into four groupings: Returned to original work in 40.0%, returned to some suitable work at the same company in 23.1%, returned to some suitable work at the another company 24.6% and had not returned to work in 12.3%. The factors related to the return to work status were active range of motion of the fingers, grasping and pinch strength, level of activities of daily living, injuries affecting the thumb, monthly wage, time on the job, and the cosmesis of the injured hand. But the laterality of the side of injury, the results of Jebsen hand function test, level of education, marital status, and the patient's satisfaction of the result were not associated with the return to work status. |