Resilience and return-to-work pain interventions: systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Pain Management
• Psychology

Background:

• Resilience is an emerging concept in pain research, but its role in return-to-work (RTW) contexts remains underexplored.
• Understanding resilience factors may inform strategies for work participation among individuals with chronic pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the effectiveness of resilience-enhancing interventions for promoting work participation in chronic pain sufferers.
• To identify key components of resilience, including self-efficacy, coping strategies, and optimism, relevant to RTW.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted across five databases.
• Interventions focused on resilience enhancement for RTW in chronic pain populations.
• Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool; findings were synthesized narratively.

Main Results:

• Twenty-four RCTs involving 34 papers were included, with most interventions being multidisciplinary.
• Four RCTs indicated improved RTW outcomes with intensive multidisciplinary interventions, though methodological quality varied.
• Sixteen trials showed no improvement in RTW, and five reported improved resilience but not necessarily RTW outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The effectiveness of resilience interventions for facilitating RTW in chronic pain patients is currently uncertain.
• Further research is required to establish a clearer conceptualization and terminology for resilience and RTW.