title: Trajectories and predictors of return to work after traumatic limb injury--a 2-year follow-up study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to explore the trajectories of return to work (RTW) and examine the predictors of         different trajectories among workers following traumatic limb injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 804 participants were         recruited during hospital admission for a 2-year prospective study. The RTW outcome was repeatedly assessed at 1, 3, 6,         12, 18, and 24 months after the injury. A group-based trajectory model (GBTM) was employed to identify trajectories of         RTW among the participants. Comparisons of group characteristics of different trajectories were performed based on a         multinomial logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GBTM identified three distinct trajectories of RTW: (i) fast RTW consisted of         workers with early and stable RTW status from the first month after the injury; (ii) average RTW consisted of workers         who achieved and remained at a stable RTW status within 6 months; and (iii) slow RTW consisted of workers who had slow         and unsustainable RTW status within the 2-year follow-up period. The estimated proportions were 21.5%, 50.7%, and         27.8%, respectively. Workers with slow and unsustainable RTW after injury were found to be older, married, less         educated, employed as repair personnel/operators/laborers, seriously injured, and depressed; they were also found to         feel more disturbance in daily life, have lower self-efficacy, and believe they experience a poorer quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Following traumatic limb injury, individual workers showed three distinct RTW trajectories, each of which         was associated with different categories of biopsychosocial factors. An understanding of how different factors         contribute to increasing the likelihood of RTW for injured workers in each trajectory group should aid policy-making in         worker-oriented vocational rehabilitation programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung City 80708, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Hsuan
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Ching-Fan
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Sheu
authors.forename: Huey-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Ching-Lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Yen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hung-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Yan-Tzong
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment; D005121:Extremities / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*