Solution-focused intervention for sick listed employees with psychological problems or muscle skeletal pain: a randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN39140363].

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-

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

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 efficacy of a solution-focused follow-up for sick-listed employees.
Methods: Employees on long-term sick leave due to psychological problems or muscle skeletal pain (n = 703) were invited to participate in the project. Following self-recruitment, 103 were randomly allocated to receive solution-focused follow-up (n = 53) or "treatment as usual" (n = 50). The intervention was integrated within the regular follow up of six social security offices and organised as eight weekly solution focused work sessions. Effectiveness was measured by rate of return to work and health related quality of life (SF-36).
Results: Intention to treat analysis showed no significant differences between the two groups for any of the outcome measures. Secondary analysis, comparing those who attended at least 50% of the sessions with the control group revealed a significant difference in favour of the active intervention group in the SF-36 subscale of mental health (Effect Size 0.56, p = 0.05). When comparing the subgroup of participants with psychological problems there was a significant difference in mental health in favour of the intervention group (Effect Size 0.71, p = 0.041).
Conclusion: A voluntary solution-focused intervention offered by social-security offices is no more effective than regular follow up for employees on long-term sick leave due to psychological problems or muscle skeletal pain.

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ISRCTN ISRCTN39140363

Date Created: 20060318 Date Completed: 20060525 Latest Revision: 20181201

20221213

PMC1459128

10.1186/1471-2458-6-69

16542443