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Related Experiment Videos

Return-to-work coordination programmes for improving return to work in workers on sick leave.

Nicole Vogel1,2, Stefan Schandelmaier3,4, Thomas Zumbrunn5

  • 1Department Clinical Research, EbIM Evidence-based Insurance Medicine, University of Basel Hospital, Spitalstrasse 8+12, Basel, Switzerland, 4031.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|March 31, 2017
PubMed
Summary

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This summary is machine-generated.

Return-to-work coordination programs do not improve return-to-work outcomes for employees on sick leave. This systematic review found no significant benefits compared to usual care across various follow-up periods.

Area of Science:

  • Occupational Health
  • Rehabilitation Medicine
  • Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

  • Return-to-work (RTW) programs aim to reduce long-term sick leave for disabled workers.
  • These programs involve coordinated and individualized interventions.
  • The effectiveness of RTW coordination programs remains uncertain.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review the long-term effectiveness of RTW coordination programs.
  • To compare RTW coordination programs with usual practice for workers at risk of long-term disability.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to November 2016.
  • Included workers absent from work for at least four weeks.
  • Meta-analyses were conducted with GRADE approach for evidence quality assessment.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • 14 RCTs involving 12,568 workers were analyzed.
  • No benefits were found for RTW coordination programs on return-to-work outcomes at short-term, long-term, or very long-term follow-up.
  • Marginal effects on patient-reported outcomes were below minimal clinically important differences.

Conclusions:

  • RTW coordination programs offer no significant benefits over usual practice for workers on sick leave.
  • No significant differences were observed in time to return to work or sickness absence.
  • The evidence quality ranged from very low to moderate.