Effectiveness of two vocational rehabilitation programmes in women with long-term sick leave due to pain syndrome or mental illness: 1-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Mental illness and chronic pain are common reasons for long-term sick leave, typically more so for women. This study investigated the effects on return to work of 2 vocational rehabilitation programmes. METHODS: In this randomized controlled study, 308 women were allocated to treatment with acceptance and commitment therapy, to multidisciplinary assessment and individualized rehabilitation interventions, or to a control group. Return-to-work at 12 months was assessed as: (i) returning to health insurance; (ii) number of reimbursed health insurance days during follow-up; (iii) self-reported change in working hours; (iv) a composite measure of self-reported change in work-related engagement. RESULTS: The mean age of the Swedish study population was 48.5 years (standard deviation (SD) 6.3 years) and the mean time on sick leave 7.5 years (SD 3.2 years). There were no significant differences in reimbursed days or returning to the health insurance at 12 months. The multidisciplinary assessment and individualized rehabilitation interventions group, compared with control, reported a significant increase in working hours per week, as well as a significant increase in work-related engagement. CONCLUSION: Multidisciplinary assessments and individual rehabilitation interventions may improve the chance of return-to-work in women with long-term sick leave due to pain condition or mental illness.
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Both ACT and TEAM were superior to Control in return to work, but overall the effect was stronger for TEAM participants.
“Both ACT and TEAM were superior to Control; however, overall the effect was stronger for TEAM participants.”
From Comparing the efficacy of multidisciplinary assessment and treatment, or acceptance and commitment therapy, with treatment as usual on health outcomes in women on long-term sick leave—a randomised controlled trial (2021) · cites this paper as [17]
The Effects of the interventions on outcome measures section (page unavailable) reports stronger results for TEAM: participants were more likely than controls to report increased working hours. It does not support superiority for ACT, whose working-hours result was similar to control (OR 0.95, p = 0.90); neither intervention showed a statistically significant difference from control on the health-insurance outcome. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEarlier results on this study population have shown a significant increase in working hours per week for the TEAM intervention, but not for ACT.
“Earlier results on this study population have shown a significant increase in working hours per week for the TEAM intervention [17]. This was not the case for the ACT intervention”
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- Authors
- Lytsy, P., Carlsson, L., & Anderzén, I.
- Affiliations
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Lytsy, P
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Publisher
- Medical Journals Sweden AB
- Published
- 2017
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 170-177
- ISSN
- 1650-1977 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2579720133
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 10.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Uppsala University Publications (Uppsala University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Vårdalstiftelsen
- Socialdepartementet
- Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Medical Practices and Rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Keywords
- vocational rehabilitation, long-term sick leave, women, chronic pain, mental illness, return to work, acceptance and commitment therapy, multidisciplinary assessment, working hours
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Mental Disorders, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Long-Term Care, Middle Aged, Rehabilitation, Vocational, Time Factors, Sick Leave, Chronic Pain, Return to Work
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