Predictive Validity of a Screening Instrument for the Risk of Non-Return to Work in Patients With Internal Diseases

To test the predictive validity of the SIMBO (Screening-Instrument zur Feststellung des Bedarfs an medizinisch-beruflich orientierten Maßnahmen in der medizinischen Rehabilitation [Screening Instrument for the Access to Work-Related Multimodal Rehabilitation]; total score ranges from 0 to 100 points) in patients with internal diseases in a rehabilitation setting.

Prospective multicenter study.

Inpatient rehabilitation centers.

Patients (N=1366) aged 18 to 65 years with internal diseases.

Multimodal rehabilitation programs.

The primary outcome was occurrence of a critical return-to-work (RTW) event during the follow-up period. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values were calculated for each disease group using the cutoff score of 27 points.

A total of 1366 patients with neoplasms (n=203); endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (n=355); and diseases of the circulatory (n=470), respiratory (n=255), and digestive (n=83) systems were included. Between 9.9% and 40.6% of the patients reported critical RTW events during the 3-month follow-up period. The area under the curve was between .849 (.754-.923) and .903 (.846-.959). Sensitivity and specificity ranged from 65.6% to 92.9% and from 80.4% to 89.9%, respectively. The positive predictive values were between 40.4% and 77.8%.

The risk score SIMBO predicts short-term RTW problems after rehabilitation in patients with internal diseases. The cutoff of 27 points was confirmed as a reasonable threshold.