Nieuwe wegen naar arbocuratieve samenwerking: samen werken van praktijkondersteuners huis- en bedrijfsarts bij multiproblematiek [New paths to interprofessional collaboration: collaboration between assistant practitioners and practice nurses in general and occupational health care]

Background: To this date, there is little to no interprofessional collaboration between professionals in general and occupational health care in the Netherlands. Where earlier initiatives for improvement focused on general practitioners (GPs) and occupational physicians (OPs), we examine the role that professionals working under task delegation...

Return to work in a cohort of low back pain patients: Development and validation of a clinical prediction rule

Background From the viewpoint of cost prevention, it is necessary to identify patients that are of high risk for long-term work disability, production loss and sick-leave. Methods Secondary data analysis in a cohort of 628 workers on sick-leave between 3 and 6 weeks due to low back pain (LBP). The association of a broad set of demographic, work,...

Workers' beliefs and expectations affect return to work over 12 months

Background: Successful management of workers on sick leave due to low back pain depends on the identification by the occupational physician of modifiable prognostic factors in the early phase of sick-leave. The prognostic value of factors which influence the course of low back pain and return to work in occupational health care is unclear....

The effectiveness of high-intensity versus low-intensity back schools in an occupational setting: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Study Design. Randomized controlled trial. Objectives. To compare high- and low-intensity back schools with usual care in occupational health care. Summary of Background Data. The content and intensity of back schools vary widely and the methodologic quality of randomized controlled trials is generally weak. Until now, no back school has proven...

Agreement on medical fitness for a job

Five experienced occupational physicians independently reviewed the uniformly structured, concise records of 180 applicants who had applied for a job in one of three categories. All had undergone a pre-employment medical examination by the Governmental Occupational Health and Safety Service. Agreement was assessed by calculating the percentage...