Low job satisfaction predicts delayed return to work after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

We studied 102 consecutive employed patients treated by elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy to determine job characteristics and psychological factors that predict delay in return to work after their procedure. Median sick leave was 13 days, and five variables significantly added to a model predicting sick leave of at least 20 days (31.4% of the workers): low job satisfaction (odds ratio [OR], 12.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.34 to 47.2); physical effort at work (OR, 4.99; 95% CI, 1.46 to 17.04); pain at 7 days (OR, 5.55; 95% CI, 1.56 to 19.76); patient's expectation of slow recovery (> 7 days) (OR, 6.12; 95% CI, 1.82 to 20.55); and patient's expectation of no financial loss (OR, 3.85; 95% CI, 1.14 to 12.50). The model was excellent (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 89.6%). We conclude that low job satisfaction is a major predictor of delayed return to work.