Analysis of a single population first recognized as disabled due to hand and wrist injuries

Objective. To study the main characteristics of a single population first recognized as disabled due to hand and wrist injuries.

Materials and methods. An unselected sampling of the patient population was formed, which included 747 people aged over 18 years old who underwent initial examination in the medical and rehabilitation expert commission of the Republic of Belarus for the period of 2014-2023, and were recognized as disabled due to physical dysfunction caused by the consequences of hand and wrist injuries. Materials of the database of the Republican Information and Analytical System on Medical Assessment and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons of the Republic of Belarus were used.

Results. The average annual rate of primary disability due to hand and wrist injuries average for the period of 2014- 2023 in the Republic of Belarus was 0.10 (95% DI: 0.09-0.11) per 10,000 population, the proportion of men in the structure of primary disability was 83.5 %, the average age of persons first recognized as disabled was 46.4±12.1 years old. Among the persons first recognized as disabled, 82.7% were employed in working professions, urban residents prevailed over rural residents by 1.9 times. Crushing and traumatic amputation at the level of the wrist and hand, leading to disability, prevailed in 18-49 year olds and urban residents, accounting for 38.9%. Among rural residents, nerve injuries at the level of the wrist and hand were the predominant disabling injuries in 37.0% of cases. In 29.2% of cases of primary disability due to injuries of the hand and wrist, the cause of disability was determined as “labour injury”, of which in 34.5% of cases, the degree of loss of professional working capacity was determined as 60% due to loss of fitness for a skilled occupation.

Conclusion. The main characteristics of the contingent, first recognized as disabled due to hand and wrist injuries, are of working age, male gender, employment in working specialties, a significant proportion of persons who received industrial trauma, the prevalence of severe injuries in the form of traumatic amputations of the hand and wrist, a high percentage of loss of professional ability to work, which, taking into account the crucial role of the hand in human production activity, indicates the central direction of rehabilitation of this population — elimination of restrictions to work through professional rehabilitation measures, creation of an inclusive environment for obtaining the opportunity to carry out work activities, as well as improving preventive measures of this type of injury.

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