Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in rehabilitants' perceived work ability
after rehabilitation for chronic musculoskeletal disorders with respect to the
baseline characteristics. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study based on register and
repeated survey data. SETTING: Public sector employees in ten towns and five
hospital districts. SUBJECTS:
A total of 854 employees who participated in the
rehabilitation programme owing to common chronic musculoskeletal disorders
between 1997 and 2009. INTERVENTIONS: Interdisciplinary, biopsychosocial,
inpatient rehabilitation programme targeting people of working age with common
chronic musculoskeletal disorders. The programme was executed in different
rehabilitation centres across the country and funded by the Social Insurance
Institution of Finland. MAIN MEASURES: Differences in perceived work ability
level before and after rehabilitation. Data were derived from repeated surveys on
average 2.1 years before rehabilitation, and 1.5 years (short-term follow-up) and
6.0 years (long-term follow-up) after rehabilitation. RESULTS: Before the
rehabilitation, perceived work ability was 7.13 (SD 1.84) among the rehabilitants
and 7.27 (SD 1.72) in the matched reference population. Among rehabilitants, this
figure decreased by 0.82 (95% confidence interval -0.98 to -0.67) in the
short-term and by 1.26 (95% confidence interval -1.45 to -1.07) in the long-term
follow-up. Only slight differences in steepness of this deterioration were
observed between subgroups, created based on the participants' baseline
characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived work ability of participants, in an
interdisciplinary biopsychosocial rehabilitation programme for common
musculoskeletal disorders, deteriorated regardless of any studied pretreatment
characteristics. The improvement of work ability may be an unrealistic goal for
participants in this type of rehabilitation.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS