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,...

Interviews for the assessment of long-term incapacity for work: A study on adherence to protocols and principles

Background. Assessments for long-term incapacity for work are performed by Social Insurance Physicians (SIPs) who rely on interviews with claimants as an important part of the process. These interviews are susceptible to bias. In the Netherlands three protocols have been developed to conduct these interviews. These protocols are expert- and...

What works best for whom? An exploratory, subgroup analysis in a randomized, controlled trial on the effectiveness of a workplace intervention in low back pain patients on return to work

STUDY DESIGN. Exploratory subgroup analysis in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). OBJECTIVE. To detect possible moderators in the effectiveness of a workplace intervention in a population of workers with sick leave due to sub acute nonspecific low back pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA. In a recently published RCT, a workplace intervention was...

Medico-legal reasoning in disability assessment: A focus group and validation study

Background. Decisions on disability pensions are based, among others, on medical reports. The way these medical assessments are performed is largely unclear. The aim of the study was to determine which grounds are used by social insurance physicians (SIPs) in these assessments and to determine if the identification of these grounds can help...

Employment and disability for work in patients with COPD: A cross-sectional study among Dutch patients

Objectives: The aim was to gain insight into work experiences and problems of subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to develop more effective guidelines for preventing work disability and work loss. Methods: A total of 617 patients aged 45-60, recruited from pulmonary outpatient clinics and general practices, completed a...

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...

Difference in fitness for duty among soldiers on a mission: Can these be explained by a difference in the preemployment assessment?

In 1998, the Royal Netherlands Army introduced a new examination system (abbreviated as BMEKL), which was based on the "workload-capability" model, to replace the old system (abbreviated as PULHEEMS), which focused on diagnosis and was based solely on the detection of diseases and infirmities. To discern differences under operational conditions...

Vocational rehabilitation of young adults with a disability of one arm or hand

The paper presents a summary of a study of the vocational rehabilitation of young adults with a disability of one hand or arm. It demonstrates the importance of labor research in vocational rehabilitation. The success of vocational rehabilitation depends in large measure on the suitability of the job chosen and the adaptability of the workplace....

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...

Preemployment medical examinations in a large occupational health service

Several hundreds of thousands of preemployment medical examinations are performed in The Netherlands each year, with the objective of screening for obvious risks for the applicants or others. Neither the efficacy of these examinations nor determinants for rejection are known. Altogether 101,754 preemployment medical examinations of applicants...