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Early coordinated multidisciplinary intervention to prevent sickness absence and labour market exclusion in patients with low back pain: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: Musculoskeletal disorders account for one third of the long-term absenteeism in Denmark and the number of individuals sick listed for more than four weeks is increasing. Compared to other diagnoses, patients with musculoskeletal diseases, including low back pain, are less likely to return to work after a period of sick leave. It seems that a multidisciplinary intervention, including cooperation between the health sector, the social sector and in the work place, has a positive effect on days off work due to musculoskeletal disorders and particularly low back pain. It is a challenge to coordinate this type of intervention, and the implementation of a return-to-work (RTW)-coordinator is suggested as an effective strategy in this process. The purpose of this paper is to describe the study protocol and present a new type of intervention, where the physiotherapist both has the role as RTW-coordinator and treating the patient.A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is currently on-going. The RCT includes 770 patients with low back pain of minimum four weeks who are referred to an outpatient back centre. The study population consists of patients, who are sick-listed or at risk of sick-leave due to LBP. The control group is treated with usual care in a team of a physiotherapist, a chiropractor, a rheumatologist and a social worker employed at the centre. The Intervention group is treated with usual care and in addition intervention of a psychologist, an occupational physician, an ergonomist, a case manager from the municipal sickness benefit office, who has the authority in the actual case concerning sickness benefit payment and contact to the patients employer/work place. The treating physiotherapist is the RTW-coordinator. Outcome will be reported at the end of treatment as well as 6 and 12 months follow up. The primary outcome is number of days off work. Secondary outcomes are disability, pain, and quality of life. The study will follow the recommendations in CONSORT-statement in designing and reporting RCTs.This large RCT is testing the effectiveness of a preventive intervention targeting patients on short term sick leave or at risk being sick listed because of low back pain. We have developed a novel multidisciplinary team structure using the treating physiotherapist as the return to work coordinator, and having the case manager from the municipal sickness benefit office participating in team meetings. The study has the potential to contribute to the knowledge about how to target the challenges in the treatment of LBP. The aim is to prevent sickness absence and labour market exclusion--both on the individual level and economic costs at community level. Short term results will be available in 2014.This study is approved by the Danish Regional Ethics Committee (J.nr: H-C-2008-112) and is registered atClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01690234.

SUBMITTER: Fisker A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3606127 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Early coordinated multidisciplinary intervention to prevent sickness absence and labour market exclusion in patients with low back pain: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Fisker Annette A Langberg Henning H Petersen Tom T Mortensen Ole Steen OS

BMC musculoskeletal disorders 20130313

<h4>Background</h4>Musculoskeletal disorders account for one third of the long-term absenteeism in Denmark and the number of individuals sick listed for more than four weeks is increasing. Compared to other diagnoses, patients with musculoskeletal diseases, including low back pain, are less likely to return to work after a period of sick leave. It seems that a multidisciplinary intervention, including cooperation between the health sector, the social sector and in the work place, has a positive ...[more]

PMID: 23496897

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Project description:BackgroundPrevious studies have focused on the relationship between employment pathways and health-related outcomes based on cross-sectional or longitudinal approaches. However, little is known about the cumulative effects of employment status mobility on sickness absence (SA) over time. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between prior labour market participation (LMP) patterns and SA trajectories from a life-course perspective.MethodsThis cohort study was based on a sample of 11,968 salaried workers living in Catalonia and affiliated with the Spanish Social Security system, who accumulated more than 15 days on SA in at least one quarter during 2012-2014. Individuals were grouped into three different working life stages: early (18-25 years), middle (26-35 years), and late (36-45 years). To identify LMP patterns, we applied sequence analysis and cluster analysis (2002-2011), and we used latent class growth modelling to identify SA trajectories (2012-2014). Finally, we applied multinomial logistic regression models to assess the relationship between LMP patterns and SA trajectories.ResultsThe analyses yielded six LMP patterns: stable employment (value range: 63-81%), increasing employment (5-22%), without long-term coverage (7-8%), decreasing employment (4-10%), fluctuant employment (13-14%), and steeply decreasing employment (7-9%). We also identified four SA trajectories: low stable (83-88%), decreasing (5-9%), increasing (5-11%), and high stable (7-16%). However, the only significant association we identified for LMP patterns and SA trajectories was among young men, for whom an increasing employment pattern was significantly associated with a lower risk for increased days on SA (adjusted odds ratio: 0.21; 95% confidence interval: 0.05-0.96).ConclusionsSA trajectories are generally not related to prior 10-year LMP patterns at any stage of working life. To disentangle this relationship, future research might benefit from considering working life transitions with a quality-of-work approach framed with contextual factors closer to the SA course.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:We aimed to provide previously unestablished information on population-based differences in cause-specific sickness absence trends between occupational classes and further between four large industrial sectors within the different occupational classes while controlling for other socioeconomic factors and employment patterns. We focused on the period 2005-2013, during which the labour market underwent large economic and structural changes in many countries. DESIGN:Register-based panel data study. SETTING:Large representative datasets on Finnish wage earners aged 25-59 years. OUTCOME MEASURE:Annual risk of sickness absence (>10?working days) based on repeated logistic regression. RESULTS:Between 2005 and 2013, the proportion of employees with sickness absence decreased. Occupational class differences in sickness absence trends varied by disease group. Overall, the decrease in absences was smallest among lower non-manual employees. Sickness absence levels were highest in the health and social work sector and in the manufacturing sector within the non-manual and manual classes, respectively. Absences due to musculoskeletal diseases decreased temporarily during the peak of the economic recession in 2009, particularly in the manufacturing sector within the manual class. The decrease in absences due to musculoskeletal diseases was smallest in the trade sector within the lower occupational classes. Overall, education, income and employment patterns partly explained the differences in the absence levels, but not in the trends. CONCLUSIONS:We found a complex interplay between the associations of occupational class and industrial sector with sickness absence trends. During the economic recession, absences due to musculoskeletal diseases decreased temporarily in a segment of wage earners who were known to have been hit hard by the recession. However, the trend differences were not explained by the measured structural changes in the characteristics of the study population. Both occupational class and industrial sector should be taken into account when tackling problems of work disability.

Project description:Multidisciplinary pain management programs (MPMP) for patients suffering from chronic back pain include a variety of treatment modalities. The patients' perceived helpfulness of these treatment modalities remains unclear. The aims of this prospective observational cohort study were to assess (i) the patients' perceived helpfulness of different treatment modalities, (ii) the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on the patient's perspective and (iii) whether treatment outcomes are affected by helpfulness ratings. Treatment modalities of this three-week MPMP consisted of individual physiotherapy, group-based physiotherapy, relaxation therapy, aquatic therapy, back education, medical training therapy, biofeedback, psychological pain therapy and music therapy. The study comprised 395 patients. The main outcome was the patients' perceived treatment helpfulness at the end of the program measured by a self-reported questionnaire ranging from 1 (not at all helpful) to 6 (extremely helpful). Secondary outcomes were treatment effects on pain, pain related disability, functional ability and level of depressive symptoms measured by self-reported questionnaires (NRS, PDI, FFbH-R, ADS-L). A total of 276 patients (22-64 years, 57% female) were available for overall analysis. Multivariate-analysis-of-variance- (MANOVA-) related results revealed that perceived treatment helpfulness (range 1-6) differed significantly between treatment modalities: individual physiotherapy (M = 5.00), group-based physiotherapy (M = 4.87), relaxation therapy (M = 4.6), aquatic therapy (M = 4.54), back education (M = 4.43), medical training therapy (M = 3.38), biofeedback (M = 3.31), psychological pain therapy (M = 3.15), music therapy (M = 3.02). Pain, pain related disability and levels of depressive symptoms significantly improved after the program (p < 0.001) whereas functional ability decreased (p < 0.01). Significant correlations were found between helpfulness ratings and sociodemographic data indicating that perceived treatment helpfulness was influenced by patient-related factors. Importantly, the degree of pain-related improvements was affected by the patients' perceived treatment helpfulness. In conclusion, patients' perceived treatment helpfulness differs significantly between treatment modalities and corresponds to treatment outcome.

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Early coordinated multidisciplinary intervention to prevent sickness absence and labour market exclusion in patients with low back pain: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

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Early coordinated multidisciplinary intervention to prevent sickness absence and labour market exclusion in patients with low back pain: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

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