# Leveraging Large Language Models for Early Detection of Anomaly Work Injury Cases: Data-Driven Approach to Rehabilitation Efficiency

**Authors:** Peter Q Chen, Hayley Y W Gu, Heidi K Y Lo, Wing Chung Chang, Cameron J M Lai, Sun H S Lai, Andy S K Cheng, Peter H F Ng

PMC · DOI: 10.2196/80607 · JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies · 2026-01-30

## TL;DR

This paper explores using large language models to detect unusual work injury rehabilitation cases, aiming to improve efficiency and accuracy in managing these cases.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel LLM-assisted method for identifying anomalous work injury rehabilitation cases using free-text data.

## Key findings

- GPT-4o achieved 73% accuracy in nonanomalous classification and 79% in overall detection.
- The model reliably extracted information from free-text notes and maintained accuracy across subgroups.
- The method showed robustness on a large dataset with a bimodal age distribution.

## Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated potential in automating the analysis of unstructured clinical data, yet their application in rehabilitation therapy for work injury cases remains underexplored.

We aimed to evaluate the performance of an LLM-assisted approach for the rapid identification of anomalous rehabilitation cases related to work injuries to enhance scalability and precision in case management.

We retrospectively analyzed 110,346 deidentified work injury cases between 2001 and 2024 from a leading rehabilitation coordination company in Hong Kong, representing approximately 20% of all work injury incidents in the region. LLMs were used to estimate the expected duration of recovery based on free-text injury descriptions. The cases in which the actual number of medically certified sick leave days exceeded the LLM-predicted maximum were classified as anomalies.

The LLM-assisted method achieved high accuracy, with GPT-4o achieving over 73% accuracy in nonanomalous classification and 79% accuracy in all dataset detection, outperforming comparator models. The model maintained high accuracy across subgroups and demonstrated the reliable extraction of information from free-text notes.

The proposed method demonstrated robustness when evaluated on a large-scale dataset with a bimodal age distribution. This study highlights the potential of LLMs to transform rehabilitation workflows by automating anomaly detection at scale. The method also shows promise in tailoring rehabilitation strategies to age-specific needs and leveraging LLM tools for efficient case management. However, a key limitation is that the dataset includes only injury cases from a single geographic region, potentially limiting the generalizability of the findings to other populations or health care systems.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** sprains (MESH:D013180), hallucination (MESH:D006212), occupational injury (MESH:D060051), MPE (MESH:D012030), Work Injury (MESH:D000073397), LLM (MESH:D007806), lacerations (MESH:D022125), anomaly (MESH:D000013), fractures (MESH:D050723), ankle injuries (MESH:D016512), back injury (MESH:D019567), bruises (MESH:D003288), Injuries (MESH:D014947), hand or palm injuries (MESH:D006230)
- **Chemicals:** LLM (-)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

8 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12858045/full.md

## References

34 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12858045/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12858045