The Injured Worker and the Internist
Authors: Nortin M. Hadler
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1994)

Editorials15 January 1994The Injured Worker and the InternistNortin M. Hadler, MDNortin M. Hadler, MDUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7280.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-120-2-199401150-00011 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail “How're the kids?” “How's your wife?” “How's Joe?” “How's school?” “Are you still bowling?”Idle talk? Hardly. To establish rapport? Not just.As internal medicine sheds 40 years of scientific reductionism, these questions are emerging as requisite in the clinical interview. We watch our patient's eyes and body language. We pursue any inkling of difficulty. After all, we are probing for the symptoms of some of the most life-threatening, and potentially remedial, diseases in our society: abusive relationships, self-destructive behavior, and affective disorders. Physicians are finally confronting this plague.“How's work?”This question needs to carry the same importance as ...References1. Stillman NG, Wheeler JR. The expansion of occupational safety and health law. Notre Dame Law Review. 1987; 62:969-1009. Google Scholar2. Hadler NM. Regional musculoskeletal diseases of the low back. Cumulative trauma versus single incident. Clin Orthop. 1987; 221: 33-41. Google Scholar3. Scientific approach to the assessment and management of activity-related spinal disorders. A mongraph for clinicians. Report of the Quebec Task Force on Spinal Disorders. Spine 1987; 12(7 Suppl): S1-59. Google Scholar4. Hadler NM. Back pain and the vortex of disability determination. Seminars in Spine Surgery. 1992; 4:35-41. Google Scholar5. Hadler NM. Arm pain in the workplace. A small area analysis. J Occup Med. 1992; 34:113-9. Google Scholar6. Greenwood J, Taricco A, eds. Workers' Compensation Health Care Cost Containment. Horsham, Pennsylvania: LRP Publications; 1992: 1-374. Google Scholar7. Hadler NM. Cumulative trauma disorders. An iatrogenic concept. J Occup Med. 1990; 32:38-41. Google Scholar8. Hadler NM. Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders. New York: Raven Press; 1993:1-273. Google Scholar9. Hadler NM. Impairment rating in disability determination for low back pain. John Burton's Workers' Compensation Monitor. 1990; 3: 4-15. Google Scholar10. Carey TS, Hadler NM, Gillings D, Stinnett S, Wallsten T. Medical disability assessment of the back pain patient for the Social Security Administration: the weighting of presenting clinical features. J Clin Epidemiol. 1988; 41:691-7. Google Scholar11. Hadler NM. Disabling backache in France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands: contrasting sociopolitical constraints on clinical judgment. J Occup Med. 1989; 31:823-31. Google Scholar12. Drossman DA, Leserman J, Nachman G, Li ZM, Gluck H, Toomey TC, et al. Sexual and physical abuse in women with functional or organic gastrointestinal disorders. Ann Intern Med. 1990; 113:828-33. Google Scholar13. Bigos SJ, Battie MC, Spengler DM, Fisher LD, Fordyce WE, Hansson TH, et al. A prospective study of work perceptions and psychosocial factors affecting the report of back injury. Spine. 1991; 16:1-6. Google Scholar14. Linton SJ, Kamwendo K. Risk factors in the psychosocial work environment for neck and shoulder pain in secretaries. J Occup Med. 1989; 31:609-13. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7280.Corresponding Author: Nortin M. Hadler, MD, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 932 Faculty Laboratory Office Building 231H, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7280. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited ByThe illness of work incapacityStress and healthShell-Cross-Linked Micelles Containing Cationic Polymers Synthesized via the RAFT Process: Toward a More Biocompatible Gene Delivery SystemThe Impact of Disability Compensation on Long-term Treatment Outcomes of Patients With Sciatica Due to a Lumbar Disc HerniationSocioeconomics of back painDisability management of low back injuries by employer-retained physicians: Ratings and costsLong-Term Disability and Return to Work Among Patients Who Have a Herniated Lumbar Disc: The Effect of Disability Compensation*ROADBLOCKS TO EFFECTIVE PAIN TREATMENTAn Educational Program to Prevent Disabling Low Back PainBack Pain in the WorkplaceWork Incapacity From Low Back Pain: The International Quest for RedressRepetitive upper-extremity motions in the workplace are not hazardousEditorialThe Disabled, the Disallowed, the Disaffected and the DisavowedPoint of View: Pitfalls of Patient Education: Limited Success of a Program for Back Pain in Primary Care 15 January 1994Volume 120, Issue 2Page: 163-164KeywordsAlgorithmsDisabilitiesFallsLower back painPathogensPrevention, policy, and public healthSelf harmSurgerySweatVision Issue Published: 15 January 1994 CopyrightCopyright © 1994 by American College of Physicians. 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