[Predicting long-term disability after one year for claimants with psychological disorders applying for vocational...

There is a growing amount of research on predicting the outcome of illnesses, return to work and early retirement. Up to now, these general findings have not been examined for claimants of vocational disability in the context of a private life insurance in Germany ("Private Berufsunfähigkeit" = BU). In this prospective study we tested general outcome variables for psychosomatic illnesses, when applying for a disability pension, to predict vocational disability after one year as defined by private life insurance (BU) in Germany. The results are consistent with the research generated in similar insurance fields, highlighting the relevance of the variables: Age, subjective appraisal of the vocational and health perspective in the following year, the amount of attempts to prevent disability (number of inpatient treatments) and motivational aspects like the extent of commitment. These variables were then used to compose a first screening questionnaire to predict vocational disability at an early stage of the claims process.