Affiliations: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China | Hong Kong Worker's Health Centre, Rm. 1429, 14/F,
Beverley Commercial Centre, 87-105 Chatham Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong,
China | The Guangdong Provincial Work Injury Rehabilitation
Center, Guangzhou, China
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Yanwen Xu, M.Phil, The Guangdong
Provincial Work Injury Rehabilitation Center, Wenquan Eastern Road 105, Wenquan
Town, Conghua, Guangzhou, China. Tel.: +86 20 87830238; Fax: +86 20 87830338;
E-mail: xudeng2@163.com
Abstract: This study attempts to formulate a prediction model of return to
work for a group of workers who have been suffering from chronic pain and
physical injury while also being out of work in Hong Kong. The study used
Case-based Reasoning (CBR) method, and compared the result with the statistical
method of logistic regression model. The database of the algorithm of CBR was
composed of 67 cases who were also used in the logistic regression model. The
testing cases were 32 participants who had a similar background and
characteristics to those in the database. The methods of setting constraints
and Euclidean distance metric were used in CBR to search the closest cases to
the trial case based on the matrix. The usefulness of the algorithm was tested
on 32 new participants, and the accuracy of predicting return to work outcomes
was 62.5%, which was no better than the 71.2% accuracy derived from the
logistic regression model. The results of the study would enable us to have a
better understanding of the CBR applied in the field of occupational
rehabilitation by comparing with the conventional regression analysis. The
findings would also shed light on the development of relevant interventions for
the return-to-work process of these workers.
