Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38907784›Full record

Trial reportJournal of occupational rehabilitation2025

Return to Work Trajectories of Swedish Employees on Sick-Leave Due to Common Mental Disorders.

Anna Toropova, Elisabeth Björk Brämberg, Gunnar Bergström

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Anna ToropovaUnit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. anna.toropova@ki.se.
Elisabeth Björk BrämbergUnit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
Gunnar BergströmUnit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare 2019-01727
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesRecent research has emphasized that return to work (RTW) is a dynamic, gradual and often uneven process with a great degree of individual variation. This study aimed to identify RTW trajectories of Swedish employees on sick-leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs). The second aim was to explore which demographic, employment, health-related and work environment characteristics predicted RTW trajectory membership.

methodsData comes from two 2-armed cluster-randomized controlled trials (RCT) with a 12-month follow-up. A participative problem-solving intervention aimed to reduce sick-leave was compared to care as usual (CAU) involving any kind of work-directed interventions. Participants on sick-leave due to CMDs at baseline (N = 197) formed the study sample. Latent growth mixture modeling and logistic regression were the main analytical approaches.

resultsFive distinct RTW trajectories of Swedish employees were identified: Early RTW (N = 65), Delayed RTW (N = 50), Late RTW (N = 39), Struggling RTW (N = 21) and No RTW (N = 22). RTW trajectories differed consistently with regard to previous sick-leave duration and social support at work. More unique predictors of RTW trajectories included gender, rewards at work, work performance impairment due to health problems, home-to-work interference and stress-related exhaustion disorder.

conclusionThe study may have important clinical implications for identifying patients belonging to a particular RTW trajectory. Knowledge on the modifiable work environment factors that differentiated between the RTW trajectories could be useful for designing effective workplace interventions, tailored to particular needs of employees with CMDs. However, in a first step, the results need to be replicated.

Indexed as

Mental DisordersReturn to WorkSick LeaveAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSocial SupportSwedenWorkplaceCommon mental disordersReturn to workTrajectoriesWork environment

Identifiers

PMID38907784
PMCPMC12361341

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.