Evaluation of Return to Work Rehabilitation

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Sick Leave; Occupational Health
• Interventions: Behavioral: short rehabilitation program; Behavioral: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT); Behavioral: long rehabilitation program

• Registration Number: NCT01926574
• Lead Sponsor: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Brief Summary

Long-term sick-listing from work has considerable impact on social function, on the families of the sick-listed persons, the companies they work for, and society as a whole. Hence, the need for documented effective vocational rehabilitation programs is pressing. Vocational rehabilitation services described in the scientific literature have been specific to one single or a specific group of medical conditions (e.g.low back pain). In contrast, most people on sick leave have several health complaints, and many of the factors influencing sick leave are shared regardless of disorder (e.g. social surroundings, workplace environment), calling for rehabilitation programs that can be employed for both musculoskeletal-, unspecific- and common mental disorders. Aim of this study is to investigate whether a group based rehabilitation program for musculoskeletal, mental or unspecific complaints can facilitate return-to-work (RTW), thereby testing two multicomponent return-to-work RTW rehabilitation programs.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2013-01
• Study First Submitted: 2013-08-19
• Study First Submitted QC: 2013-08-19
• Study First Posted: 2013-08-21
• Primary Completion: 2015-06
• Status Verified: 2021-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-04-06
• Last Update Posted: 2021-04-08
• Study Completion: 2022-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 300

Inclusion Criteria

• living in the counties of Trøndelag
• on sick leave 2-12 months
• current sick leave status of 50% - 100%
• ICPC-2 (International Classification of Primary Care, Second edition) diagnosis within the L (musculoskeletal), P (psychiatric) or A (unspecific disorders) categories

Exclusion Criteria

• alcohol or drug abuse
• serious somatic or psychological disorders
• a specific disorder requiring specialized treatment
• pregnancy
• currently participating in another treatment program
• insufficient Norwegian speaking or writing skills to participate in group session and fill out questionnaires
• scheduled for surgery within the next 6 months
• serious problems with functioning in a group setting

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
short rehabilitation	short rehabilitation program	4+4 full days of rehabilitation at Hysnes Rehabilitation Center, separated by 2 weeks living at home. Group-based with 8 participants per group, focus on mental training (aimed at increasing motivation and self-efficacy), physical training and work-related problem solving. A workplace visit will be included in addition to the 4 + 4 rehabilitation days, if considered relevant.
Acceptance and commitment therapy	Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)	6 dynamic processes (committed action, self-as-context, presence in the moment, values, defusion and acceptance) are targeted both in group-sessions and individual meetings. Only the psychological part of the experimental interventions is applied, in an outpatient setting.
long rehabilitation	long rehabilitation program	a 3.5-week, in-patient rehabilitation program, organized as a 7-hour workday with weekends off, simulating a close to normal summer work-week in Norway, and mainly group-based with maximum 8 participants per group. Focus on mental training (aimed at increasing motivation and self-efficacy), physical training and work-related problem solving.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
time until full sustainable return-to-work (RTW)	1 year	return-to-work i.e. for at least 4 weeks without relapse
Total number of sickness absence days	1 year	after enrollment in the study (i.e. after pre-screening)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sickness absence days	3 years
sickness absence days	5 years
Health related quality of life	1 year
Subjective health complaints	1 year	Pain, depression, anxiety, and other subjective complaints
Physical activity	1 year
physical, social and emotional functional status	1 year
Psychological and social factors at work	1 year
fear avoidance beliefs	1 year
psychological flexibility and acceptance	1 year
share of workers at work	1 year
readiness for return to work	1 year

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

St. Olavs University Hospital; 🇳🇴 Trondheim, Norway

Hysnes Rehabilitation Centre; 🇳🇴 Rissa, Norway