Trial reportJournal of occupational rehabilitation2011
A participatory return-to-work intervention for temporary agency workers and unemployed workers sick-listed due to musculoskeletal disorders: results of a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- What are cost-effective ergonomics interventions for prevention and management of occupational musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review of economic evaluation studies.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment and Its Effects on Workers' Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions Developed with the Intervention Mapping Protocol in Work Disability Prevention: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2019Pooled it
- Return-to-work coordination programmes for improving return to work in workers on sick leave.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Effectiveness of workplace interventions in the prevention of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and symptoms: an update of the evidence.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Workplace interventions to prevent work disability in workers on sick leave.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Multidisciplinary biopsychosocial rehabilitation for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Individual Placement and Support and Participatory Workplace Intervention on the Work Participation of People with Disabilities: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Process Evaluation of Individual Placement and Support and Participatory Workplace Intervention to Increase the Sustainable Work Participation of People with Work Disabilities.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Effectiveness of 'motivational interviewing' on sick leave: a randomized controlled trial in a social insurance setting.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2023Trial
- Occupational advice to help people return to work following lower limb arthroplasty: the OPAL intervention mapping study.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Biopsychosocial predictors and trajectories of work participation after transdiagnostic occupational rehabilitation of participants with mental and somatic disorders: a cohort study.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial of Adding Telephone Follow-Up to an Occupational Rehabilitation Program to Increase Work Participation.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2018Trial
- Effects of Inpatient Multicomponent Occupational Rehabilitation versus Less Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation on Somatic and Mental Health: Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2017Trial
- Process Evaluation of a Participatory Supportive Return to Work Program for Workers Without a Permanent Employment Contract, Sick-Listed Due to a Common Mental Disorder.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2017Trial
- A participatory supportive return to work program for workers without an employment contract, sick-listed due to a common mental disorder: an economic evaluation alongside a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2017Trial
- Occupational rehabilitation programs for musculoskeletal pain and common mental health disorders: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2014Trial
- Cost-Consequence Analysis of the Return to Work (RTW) Program for Workers with Disabilities in Indonesia: Health, Economic and Productivity Outcomes.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Inpatient or Outpatient Occupational Rehabilitation - What Works Best for Whom? A Non-randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionWithin the labour force workers without an employment contract represent a vulnerable group. In most cases, when sick-listed, these workers have no workplace/employer to return to. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness on return-to-work of a participatory return-to-work program compared to usual care for unemployed workers and temporary agency workers, sick-listed due to musculoskeletal disorders.
methodsThe workers, sick-listed for 2-8 weeks due to musculoskeletal disorders, were randomly allocated to the participatory return-to-work program (n = 79) or to usual care (n = 84). The new program is a stepwise procedure aimed at making a consensus-based return-to-work plan, with the possibility of a temporary (therapeutic) workplace. Outcomes were measured at baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. The primary outcome measure was time to sustainable first return-to-work. Secondary outcome measures were duration of sickness benefit, functional status, pain intensity, and perceived health.
resultsThe median duration until sustainable first return-to-work was 161 days in the intervention group, compared to 299 days in the usual care group. The new return-to-work program resulted in a non-significant delay in RTW during the first 90 days, followed by a significant advantage in RTW rate after 90 days (hazard ratio of 2.24 [95% confidence interval 1.28-3.94] P = 0.005). No significant differences were found for the measured secondary outcomes.
conclusionsThe newly developed participatory return-to-work program seems to be a promising intervention to facilitate work resumption and reduce work disability among temporary agency workers and unemployed workers, sick-listed due to musculoskeletal disorders.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.