Estimation of health-care costs for work-related injuries in the Mexican Institute of Social Security.

Background: Data on the economic consequences of occupational injuries is scarce in developing countries which prevents the recognition of their economic and social consequences. This study assess the direct heath care costs of work-related accidents in the Mexican Institute of Social Security, the largest health care institution in Latin America, which covered 12,735,856 workers and their families in 2005.

Methods: We estimated the cost of treatment for 295,594 officially reported occupational injuries nation wide.