Work-related determinants of return to work of employees on long-term sickness absence.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study is to identify work-related determinants of return to work (RTW) of employees who are on long-term sickness absence.


METHODS
The study was based on a sample of 926 employees on sickness absence (maximum duration of 12 weeks). The employees filled out a baseline questionnaire and were subsequently followed until the 10th month after listing sick. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to identify determinants of RTW.


RESULTS
Working in one of the vocational sectors public administration, construction, financial and commercial services, transport, or education (P = 0.00) and having low co-worker support (P = 0.01) were related to longer duration to RTW in the multivariate model. Having low supervisor support (P = 0.01) was associated with a higher RTW rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Vocational sector is a strong predictor of RTW. Especially employees from the sector education are slow as to RTW. The observed association between low supervisor support and RTW was unexpected. However, the study confirms earlier research on the association between low co-worker support and RTW.
Post
M
M
Northern Centre for Healthcare Research, University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands. m.post@med.umcg.nl
Krol
B
B
Groothoff
J W
JW
D000288:Administrative Personnel; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands; D009790:Occupations; D018582:Sick Leave; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires