Work accommodation at the time of Return-to-Work for workers on sick leave: a qualitative systematic review with recommendations for Return-to-work Guidance 2017

Abstract Background Musculoskeletal injuries are the most common non-fatal injury from road traffic crashes. Even when the injuries are mild, they can cause pain which can affect return to work rates and work ability post-crash. Workplace output losses are the biggest cost from traffic crash-related injuries. There is a need to identify effective interventions that can improve work-related outcomes (e.g. time to return to work, sick leave, and work ability) in this group and a need to understand the intervention components, external factors, and participant characteristics that may be associated with improvement. Methods A systematic review will be conducted using seven databases and search terms related to road traffic crash, musculoskeletal injury, work-related outcomes, and study design. Intervention studies will be eligible if they report on at least one work-related outcome, include adults with a traffic crash-related musculoskeletal injury (e.g. fracture or whiplash), include a comparison group, and are written in English. Interventions can be medical, therapeutic, work-based, multicomponent, or other. Two researchers will independently screen titles and abstracts, review full texts for inclusion in the review, and perform the data extraction. The main outcomes of the review will be time until return to work and duration of sick leave. The results will be narratively described, with meta-analyses conducted where possible. Discussion This review will explore the effectiveness of interventions in individuals with traffic crash-related musculoskeletal injury on work-related outcomes and will act as a useful source for researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders when developing and implementing interventions in this group. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42018103746

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Workplace involvement improves return to work rates among employees with back pain on long-term sick leave: a systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions

Disability and Rehabilitation ◽

10.3109/09638280903186301 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 32 (8) ◽

pp. 607-621 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Christopher Carroll ◽

Jo Rick ◽

Hazel Pilgrim ◽

Jackie Cameron ◽

Jim Hillage

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Back Pain ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Sick Leave ◽

Return To Work ◽

Workplace Involvement

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The Effects of Workplace Interventions on Low Back Pain in Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182312614 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (23) ◽

pp. 12614

Author(s):

Fabrizio Russo ◽

Giuseppe Francesco Papalia ◽

Gianluca Vadalà ◽

Luca Fontana ◽

Sergio Iavicoli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Low Back Pain ◽

Back Pain ◽

Sick Leave ◽

Return To Work ◽

Clinical Outcomes ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Low Back ◽

Workplace Interventions ◽

Physical Scale

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyze the effects of workplace interventions (WI) on clinical outcomes related to low back pain (LBP) in a worker population, and to assess socio-economic parameters as participants on sick leave, days of sick leave, and return to work following WI. A systematic literature search was performed to select randomized clinical trials that investigated the effectiveness of WI on return to work, sick leave, and working capacity of workers affected by nonspecific LBP. Fourteen articles were included in the review and meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed improvements in pain (p = 0.004), disability (p = 0.0008), fear-avoidance for psychical activity (p = 0.004), and quality of life (p = 0.001 for physical scale and p = 0.03 for mental scale) for patients who underwent WI compared to controls. Moreover, the pain reduction following WI was statistically significant in the healthcare workers’ group (p = 0.005), but not in the other workers’ group. The participants on sick leave and the number of days of sick leave decreased in the WI group without statistical significance (p = 0.85 and p = 0.10, respectively). Finally, LBP recurrence was significantly reduced in the WI group (p = 0.006). WI led to a significant improvement of clinical outcomes in a workers’ population affected by LBP.

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Determining what constitutes an effective psychosocial ‘return to work’ intervention: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11898-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Anthony Venning ◽

Tassia K. Oswald ◽

Jeremy Stevenson ◽

Nicci Tepper ◽

Leva Azadi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Sick Leave ◽

Return To Work ◽

High Intensity ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Narrative Synthesis ◽

High Quality ◽

High Quality Research ◽

Randomised Controlled

Abstract Purpose Work can offer a myriad of social and health benefits. Long-term sick leave can be detrimental to employers, individuals, families, and societies. The burden of long-term sick leave has motivated the development of return to work (RTW) interventions. This study sought to determine what constitutes an effective psychosocial RTW intervention, which included exploring whether the level of intervention intensity and intervention characteristics matter to RTW outcomes. Methods A systematic review and narrative synthesis were undertaken. Studies were identified through six databases (Ovid Medline, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycInfo (Ovid), ProQuest, Scopus, and Google Scholar) between 2011 and 3 September 2019. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or reviews published in English were eligible for inclusion if they targeted adults who were on sick leave/unemployed trying to return to full-capacity employment, had at least one structured psychosocial RTW intervention, and assessed RTW. Study quality was assessed using checklists from the Joanna Briggs Institute. Results Database searching yielded 12,311 records. Eighteen RCTs (comprising 42 intervention/comparison groups), seven reviews (comprising 153 studies), and five grey literature documents were included. Included studies were of moderate-to-high quality. Research was primarily conducted in Europe and focused on psychological or musculoskeletal problems. RTW outcomes included RTW status, time until RTW, insurance claims, and sick days. Participating in a RTW program was superior to care-as-usual. RTW outcomes were similar between diverse interventions of low, moderate, and high intensity. Common foundational characteristics seen across effective RTW interventions included a focus on RTW, psychoeducation, and behavioural activation. Conclusions Evidence suggests that a low intensity approach to RTW interventions may be an appropriate first option before investment in high intensity, and arguably more expensive interventions, as the latter appear to provide limited additional benefit. More high-quality RCTs, from diverse countries, are needed to provide stronger evidence.

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Mental health: Professional rehabilitation and the return to work - A systematic review

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-213489 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Selma Lancman ◽

Bárbara Iansã de Lima Barroso

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Women Workers ◽

Sick Leave ◽

Return To Work ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Common Mental Disorders ◽

Data Set ◽

Rehabilitation Programs ◽

Return Method

BACKGROUND: The problem of illnesses, sick leave and the necessary return to work and permanence at work has been determining the development of different protocols and professional rehabilitation programs in different countries. OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify articles that address programs for professional rehabilitation and the return to work of people laid off due to mental health problems, and to verify the results of professional rehabilitation programs and the follow-up processes for such return. METHOD: A systematic review was performed according to the criteria of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA). The serial search of the articles was carried out in the electronic databases: Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed and Scopus. The variations in the descriptors served to find a greater range of significant results for the research. RESULTS: In total, 2,306 articles were found. Another two articles that met the inclusion criteria were located through manual searches, adding up to a total of 2,308. Applying the exclusion criteria resulted in a final data set of 47 peer-reviewed articles. CONCLUSIONS: The issues involving return to work and permanence in work were complex and multifaceted in the research articles studied. Recovery from Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) is a major cause of long-term sick leave and the granting of disability benefits. Many people with these diagnoses remain employed; however, further studies are needed with women, workers with fragile relationships, and immigrants.

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Interventions for enhancing return to work in individuals with a common mental illness: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291716002269 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (16) ◽

pp. 3263-3274 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Y. T. Nigatu ◽

Y. Liu ◽

M. Uppal ◽

S. McKinney ◽

S. Rao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Sick Leave ◽

Return To Work ◽

Randomized Controlled Trials ◽

Common Mental Disorders ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Control Group ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Randomized Controlled

Common mental disorders (CMDs) are highly prevalent in the working population, and are associated with long-term sickness absence and disability. Workers on sick leave with CMDs would benefit from interventions that enable them to successfully return to work (RTW). However, the effectiveness of RTW interventions for workers with a CMD is not well studied. The objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of existing workplace and clinical interventions that were aimed at enhancing RTW. A systematic review of studies of interventions for improving RTW in workers with a CMD was conducted. The main outcomes were proportion of RTW and sick-leave duration until RTW. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from Medline/PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, SocINDEX, and Human resource and management databases from January 1995 to 2016. Two authors independently selected studies, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We pooled studies that we deemed sufficiently homogeneous in different comparison groups and assessed the overall quality of the evidence. We reviewed 2347 abstracts from which 136 full-text articles were reviewed and 16 RCTs were included in the analysis. Combined results from these studies suggested that the available interventions did not lead to improved RTW rates over the control group [pooled risk ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97–1.12], but reduced the number of sick-leave days in the intervention group compared to the control group, with a mean difference of −13.38 days (95% CI −24.07 to −2.69).

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