Return to work and normal activities after mid-urethral sling: secondary analysis of the Trial of Mid-Urethral Slings

We aim to evaluate the timing of patients returning to work and to normal daily life following mid-urethral sling surgery.

This is a secondary analysis of the Trial of Mid-Urethral Slings (TOMUS). Our primary outcome is the timing of return to work and normal activities. Secondary outcomes included paid days off, number of days to return to normal daily life, and objective and subjective failures. Predictors affecting the timing of return to work and normal activities were also assessed. Patients who underwent concomitant surgery were excluded.

Among patients undergoing a mid-urethral sling, 183 (41.5%) returned to normal activities within 2 weeks. Within 6 weeks of surgery, 308 (70.0%) had returned to normal activities including work. At the 6-month follow-up, 407 (98.3%) had returned to normal activities including work. Patients took a median of 14 days (interquartile range 1-115 days) to return to normal activities including work and took a median of 5 (interquartile range 0-42 days) paid work days off. Those who returned within 2 weeks versus after 2 weeks did not have significantly different characteristics, or failure and complication rates. In the multivariate regression analysis, there was no significant predictor of the timing of returning to normal activity/work.

Less than half of patients returned to work and normal activities within 2 weeks of a mid-urethral sling surgery and took many fewer paid days off. The timing of return to work was not associated with significant differences in treatment failure or adverse outcomes.