Feasibility and effectiveness of offering a solution-focused follow-up to employees with psychological problems or muscle skeletal pain: a randomised controlled trial.

Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100968562 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-2458 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14712458 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001-

Burnout, Professional/*therapy ; Directive Counseling/*organization & administration ; Mental Disorders/*therapy ; Musculoskeletal Diseases/*therapy ; Occupational Health Services/*organization & administration ; Sick Leave/*statistics & numerical data ; Social Security/*organization & administration; Adult ; Directive Counseling/statistics & numerical data ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Musculoskeletal Diseases/complications ; Norway ; Occupational Health Services/statistics & numerical data ; Pain/etiology ; Pain Management ; Problem Solving ; Program Evaluation ; Voluntary Programs/organization & administration ; Voluntary Programs/statistics & numerical data

Background: Long-term sick leave has been of concern to politicians and decision-makers in Norway for several years. In the current study we assess the feasibility and effectiveness of offering a voluntary, solution-focused follow-up to sick-listed employees.
Methods: Employees on long-term sick leave due to psychological problems or muscle skeletal pain were randomly allocated to be offered a solution-focused follow-up (n = 122) or "treatment as usual" (n = 106). The intervention was integrated within 2 social security offices' regular follow-up. The intervention group was informed about the offer with letters, telephone calls and information meetings. Feasibility was measured by rate of uptake to the intervention, and effectiveness by number of days on sick leave.
Results: In general, few were reached with the different information elements. While the letter was sent to all, only 31% were reached by telephone and 15% attended the information meetings. Thirteen employees (11.5%) in the intervention group participated in the solution-focused follow-up. Intention to treat analysis showed no difference in mean length of sick leave between the intervention group (217 days) and the control group (189 days) (p = 0,101).
Conclusion: Even if the information strategy might be improved, it is not likely that a voluntary solution-focused follow-up offered by the social security offices would result in measurable reduction in length of sick leave on a population level. However, the efficacy of a solution-focused follow-up for the persons reporting a need for this approach should be further investigated.

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Date Created: 20030605 Date Completed: 20040524 Latest Revision: 20181130

20231215

PMC161814

10.1186/1471-2458-3-19

12783624