Comparison of permanent impairment measuring methods

Evaluating the impairment and permanent disability aiming at determining the ability of employment or repayment is one concern of all industrial and the developing societies. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of permanent impairment in a military supreme medical commission.

In this analytical cross-sectional study, all 619 referred applicants of compensation or repayment claims and disability percentage which had records during 2006 were included. After data collection, permanent impairment percentage calculated according to AMA (American Medical Association) Guide, then, the obtained results were compared with the allocated values in the patient’s record. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis methods, Spearman correlation coefficient and Chi-square.

Allocated mean percentage in the individuals referred to the commission had no statistically significant difference in terms of different age groups, various groups of working experience, gender, different employment status and various services forces. The mean of allocated impairment percentage in a military supreme medical commission was significantly higher than the calculated impairment percentage mean with AMA Guide rating (p<0.05).

Calculation of impairment rating corresponds with criteria and directions and to some extent different from AMA. The necessity of more collaboration of counselor and colleague physicians and developing a single recipe or instruction and the lack of consideration of the severity of occurrence are among the issues which need revision.