TY - JOUR T1 - Effectiveness of a return-to-work intervention for subacute low-back pain JO - Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health PY - 2005/8VL - 31 IS - 4 SP - 249 EP - 257 AU - Hlobil, Hynek AU - Staal, J Bart AU - Spoelstra, Maaike AU - Ariëns, Geertje AM AU - Smid, Tjabe AU - van Mechelen, Willem M3 - doi: 10.5271/sjweh.880 UR - https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=880 KW - back injury KW - behavioral treatment KW - effectiveness KW - ergonomic measure KW - health education KW - intervention KW - low-back pain KW - occupational health care KW - pain severity KW - physical exercise KW - rehabilitation KW - return to work KW - review KW - subacute low-back pain KW - work absenteeism N2 -

The effectiveness of return-to-work intervention for subacute low-back pain on work absenteeism, pain severity, and functional status was examined by means of a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Publications in English that met the selection criteria were identified in a computer-aided search and assessed for methodological quality. A best-evidence synthesis was performed instead of statistical data pooling, because of the heterogeneity of the interventions and study populations. Five of nine studies comparing return-to-work intervention with usual care were identified as methodologically high-quality studies. Strong evidence was found for the effectiveness of return to work intervention on the return-to-work rate after 6 months and for the effectiveness of return-to-work intervention on the reduction of days of absence from work after ≥12 months. It can be concluded that return-to-work interventions are equal or more effective regarding absence from work due to subacute low-back pain than usual care is.

SN - 0355-3140 ER -