The DOI matches its Crossref record; 48 of the 49 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Workplace involvement improves return to work rates among employees with back pain on long-term sick leave: a systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions
Abstract
PURPOSE: Long-term sickness absence among workers is a major problem in industrialised countries. The aim of the review is to determine whether interventions involving the workplace are more effective and cost-effective at helping employees on sick leave return to work than those that do not involve the workplace at all. METHODS: A systematic review of controlled intervention studies and economic evaluations. Sixteen electronic databases and grey literature sources were searched, and reference and citation tracking was performed on included publications. A narrative synthesis was performed. RESULTS: Ten articles were found reporting nine trials from Europe and Canada, and four articles were found evaluating the cost-effectiveness of interventions. The population in eight trials suffered from back pain and related musculoskeletal conditions. Interventions involving employees, health practitioners and employers working together, to implement work modifications for the absentee, were more consistently effective than other interventions. Early intervention was also found to be effective. The majority of trials were of good or moderate quality. Economic evaluations indicated that interventions with a workplace component are likely to be more cost effective than those without. CONCLUSION: Stakeholder participation and work modification are more effective and cost effective at returning to work adults with musculoskeletal conditions than other workplace-linked interventions, including exercise.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Recent studies indicate that in addition to workers' personal factors (workers' characteristics, health, and medical care), environmental factors such as job characteristics, work modifications, involved stakeholders, and the compensation system are of upmost importance for SAW and RTW [54-56].”
From Staying at work with chronic nonspecific musculoskeletal pain: a qualitative study of workers' experiences (2011) · cites this paper as [56]
Citations
Cites
Downs, S. H., & Black, N. (1998) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.52.6.377 · Cited by 8,252
Epidemiological features of chronic low-back pain
Andersson, G. B. (1999) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(99)01312-4 · Cited by 3,181
A conceptual framework for implementation fidelity
Carroll, C., Patterson, M., Wood, S., Booth, A., Rick, J., & Balain, S. (2007) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/1748-5908-2-40 · Cited by 2,559
Self-citationPopay, J., Roberts, H., Sowden, A., Petticrew, M., Arai, L., Rodgers, M., Britten, N., Roen, K., & Duffy, S. (2006) · Lancaster University · doi:10.13140/2.1.1018.4643 · Cited by 2,070
Guidelines for authors and peer reviewers of economic submissions to the BMJ
Drummond, M. F., & Jefferson, T. O. (1996) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.313.7052.275 · Cited by 1,827
Multidisciplinary rehabilitation for chronic low back pain: systematic review
Guzmán, J., Esmail, R., Karjalainen, K., Malmivaara, A., Irvin, E., & Bombardier, C. (2001) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7301.1511 · Cited by 941
Workplace-Based Return-to-Work Interventions: A Systematic Review of the Quantitative Literature
Franche, R., Cullen, K. L., Clarke, J., Irvin, E., Sinclair, S. J., & Frank, J. W. (2005) · Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation · doi:10.1007/s10926-005-8038-8 · Cited by 696
Lindström, I., Öhlund, C., Eek, C., Wallin, L., Peterson, L., Fordyce, W. E., & NACHEMSON, A. L. (1992) · Physical Therapy · doi:10.1093/ptj/72.4.279 · Cited by 532
Steenstra, I. A., Verbeek, J. H., Heymans, M. W., & Bongers, P. M. (2005) · Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1136/oem.2004.015842 · Cited by 495
A Population-Based, Randomized Clinical Trial on Back Pain Management
Loisel, P., Abenhaim, L., Durand, P., Esdaile, J. M., Suissa, S., Gosselin, L., Simard, R., Turcotte, J., & Lemaire, J. (1997) · Spine · doi:10.1097/00007632-199712150-00014 · Cited by 451
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 2006, Absence minded: absence and labour turnover 2006
- Barham C, 2005, Labour market trends
- Barham C, 2002, Labour market trends
- NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, 2001, Report 4: Undertaking systematic reviews of research on effectiveness; CRD's guidance for those carrying out or commissioning reviews
- Eddy SA, 1985, The role of mathematical modelling. Assessing medical technology
- Popay J, 2006, Lancaster
- Durand M, 2000, Work, 17, 57
- 10.1136/oem.2002.006460 · DOI
- Skouen J, 2006, Norsk Epidemiologi, 16, 127
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–214 of 214
Returning to Work After Sickness Absence Due to Low Back Pain: A Poetic Representation
Chetty, L. (2023) · British Journal of Multidisciplinary and Advanced Studies · doi:10.37745/bjmas.2022.0301
Roder, J., Fauser, D., Lemke, S., Dötsch, S., Kindel, C., Kleineke, V., & Bethge, M. (2025) · Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung · doi:10.1007/s11553-025-01198-4
Fauser, D., Dötsch, S., Roder, J., Kleineke, V., Feddersen, D., Usdrowski, G., & Bethge, M. (2025) · Die Rehabilitation · doi:10.1055/a-2663-0460
Witte, J. C. (2014)
Klasen, S. H., van Amelsvoort, L. G. P. M., Houkes, I., Jansen, N., & Kant, I. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13719571
Fauser, D., Dötsch, S., Langer, C., Kleineke, V., Kindel, C., & Bethge, M. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.21077405
Fauser, D., Dötsch, S., Langer, C., Kleineke, V., Kindel, C., & Bethge, M. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.21077402
Fauser, D., Dötsch, S., Langer, C., Kleineke, V., Kindel, C., & Bethge, M. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.21077411
Klasen, S. H., van Amelsvoort, L. G. P. M., Houkes, I., Jansen, N., & Kant, I. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13719574
Fauser, D., Dötsch, S., Langer, C., Kleineke, V., Kindel, C., & Bethge, M. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.21077408
Tingulstad, A., Maas, E. T., Rysstad, T. L., Øiestad, B. E., Aanesen, F., Pripp, A. H., van Tulder, M. W., & Grotle, M. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26639671
Mahdavi, N., Ramezani‐Doroh, V., Khoramrooz, M., Afshari, M., Tapak, L., & Pavlova, M. (2026) · BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12891-026-09501-w
de Smalen, A. W., Maarleveld, J. M., Burchell, G. B., Huysmans, M. A., Juurlink, T. T., Beekman, A. T. F., Anema, J. R., & Schelvis, R. M. C. (2026) · Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation · doi:10.1007/s10926-026-10410-x
Metadata
- Authors
- Carroll, C., Rick, J., Pilgrim, H., Cameron, J., & Hillage, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Carroll, Christopher
- Venue
- Disability and Rehabilitation
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-10-06
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 607-621
- ISSN
- 0963-8288 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-5165
- OpenAlex
- W2002447441
- Semantic Scholar
- 2d074862a8dd9b30f7a2c421958a5b7c0e23e201
- Cited by
- 214
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 0.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Disability and Rehabilitation (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Medical Practices and Rehabilitation
- Keywords
- return to work, long-term sick leave, back pain, musculoskeletal disorders, workplace interventions, work modification, cost-effectiveness, stakeholder engagement, early intervention, exercise intervention, sick leave
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Back Pain, Canada, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Europe, Humans, Ergonomics, Occupational Diseases, Workplace, Sick Leave
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review