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Disability Payments (disability + payment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Disability payments, drug use and representative payees: an analysis of the relationships

ADDICTION, Issue 7 2003
James A. Swartz
ABSTRACT Aims This study attempted to determine: if US federal cash disability payments increase the use of cocaine or opiates among those requalifying for supplemental security income (SSI) disability benefits compared with those who lost benefits; if drug use peaks at the beginning of the month after the receipt of the disability cash disbursement; and if money management by representative payees of requalifying SSI recipients suppresses drug use. Design A multi-site, prospective, 2 year longitudinal design was used with follow-up interviews conducted every 6 months. Urine samples were collected at the final three follow-up interviews. Setting Data were collected in Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, and Seattle, WA, USA. Participants This study used a randomly selected sample of 740 former recipients of SSI who had received disability benefits for drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A) in 1996, were between the ages of 21 and 59 years, had not received concurrent social security disability insurance and provided testable urine samples and complete self-report data for at least one follow-up interview. Measurements Independent variables included demographics, SSI status at follow-up, representative payee status, drug treatment participation and income. Time of drug testing was operationalized as the first 10 days of the month versus the last 20,21 days based on when the urine sample was collected. The dependent variables were cocaine and opiate use, determined by urinalysis results. Findings Participants were 28% more likely to test positive for cocaine use in the first 10 days of the month than later in the month. This effect was general across all subjects and was not restricted to those receiving SSI benefits. No such effect was found for opiate use. Receiving SSI benefits did not increase cocaine or opiate use generally, nor did having a representative payee suppress use. Conclusions The findings do not support the contentions that federal cash benefits appreciably increase drug use or that representative payees discourage use, at least when use is defined dichotomously. The ,check effect' for cocaine use appears to be general and not confined to those receiving federal cash benefits. The lack of a ,check effect' for opiate use is probably the result of the difference between a relatively steady state of opiate use associated with addiction and a binge pattern of cocaine use triggered by suddenly flush resources. [source]

Relationship of age to symptom severity, psychiatric comorbidity and health care utilization in persons with borderline personality disorder

PERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 1 2008
Nancee Blum
Background,The objective of the study was to test the association of age with symptom severity, frequency and pattern of psychiatric comorbidity, health care utilization and quality of life in subjects with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methods,The analysis is based on a sample of subjects with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disroders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) BPD (n = 163) recruited for participation in a clinical trial at an academic medical center. The subjects were assessed using structured and semi-structured instruments of known reliability. Results,Tests of trend with age showed relationships with important variables assessing symptom severity, comorbidity, quality of life and health care utilization. As expected, younger subjects were less likely to be married, to be employed or to receive disability payments. The frequency of most lifetime comorbid Axis I disorders was not related to age, although posttraumatic stress disorder was more frequent in the 35- to 44-year age group, and younger patients were more likely to have comorbid histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders. Baseline severity variables were mostly unrelated to age, with the exception of impulsivity, which was more common in younger patients, as were acts of deliberate self-harm. As expected, older patients reported poorer quality of life in categories indicating worse health perception and greater pain levels, and tended to use more health care resources than younger patients. Conclusion,Most characteristics of patients with BPD are unrelated to age, yet impulsivity and acts of deliberate self-harm were less frequent in older patients. Expected age-related changes, such as reports of worse physical health, greater pain levels and greater health care utilization, were observed in older subjects. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Language preference and non-traumatic low back disorders in washington state workers' compensation

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010
David K. Bonauto MD
Abstract Background Workers in the United States with limited English proficiency likely perform more hazardous work, experience higher rates of work-related injury and illness, and have worse disability outcomes. Methods We conducted a descriptive study of employment characteristics, timeliness and utilization of workers' compensation (WC) insurance benefits, cost and occupational health outcomes for Washington State WC state fund, non-traumatic low back disorders (LBD) claimants by language preference. Results A greater proportion of Spanish language preferring (SLP) LBD claims filed were accepted and resulted in lost work time than English language preferring (ELP) LBD claims. There were significant differences in the demographic, employment, and occupational characteristics between the SLP and ELP compensable claimant populations. The SLP LBD compensable claimants had greater time loss duration, greater medical and total claim costs, more use of physical therapy and vocational services than the ELP LBD compensable claimants. With the exception of the timeliness for providing the first time loss payment, the time periods for provision of insurance benefits did not differ between the SLP and ELP populations. SLP compensable claimants received less back surgery and had comparable permanent partial disability payments to the ELP population. Employers were more likely to protest the acceptance of a SLP compensable than one in an ELP LBD compensable claim. Conclusion For those injured workers accessing the Washington State WC system, we observed differences based on language preference for pre-injury, and workers compensation outcomes. Further research is needed to explain the observed differences. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:204,215 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]