[Investigation of the relationship between severity of injury, return to work, impairment, and activity participation in hand and forearm injuries].

Background: Forearm and hand injuries are the main cause of work-related disability. This study was planned to investigate the relationship between severity of injury, time of return to work, impairment, and activity participation of patients with hand and forearm injuries.

Methods: One hundred and thirty patients who had patients who had had forearm or hand injuries with a mean age of 31±11.13 years participated in this study. Injury severity was evaluated using Modified Hand and Forearm Injury Severity Scoring (MHISS) after surgery. Patients were evaluated using the Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT) and Buck-Gramko scoring eight weeks after injury. Additionally, grip strength was evaluated with a dynamometer, and disability/symptom score was evaluated using the Turkish version of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH-T) questionnaire twelve weeks after injury.

Results: A significant relationship between MHISS, hand strength, time of return to work, DASH-T, and Buck-Gramko scores of patients with forearm and hand injuries was identified (p≤0.05). Higher impairment was significantly related to body structure and body functions (1.86±1.47), and the most limited activity was writing (2.06±1.50) regarding ICF framework.

Conclusion: Higher MHISS scores were associated with delays in returning to work and lower activity participation. The DASH-T score was the most strongly associated with time of return to work. Furthermore, there is a positive relation between time of return to work and activity participation of patients.