title: Psychological factors are related to return to work among long-term sickness absentees who have undergone a multidisciplinary medical assessment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the associations between psychological factors and return to work among long-term sickness absentees.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal study with a 3-year follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Long-term sickness absentees (n = 905) who had undergone a multidisciplinary medical assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three years after multidisciplinary medical assessment, return to work status (full, partial, or none) was determined according to whether the individuals received full, partial, or no sickness benefits. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for return to work related to indecision, lassitude, fatigability, reduced sleep, social functioning, emotional role limitations, and vitality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for socio-demographic factors and medical diagnoses most of the studied psychological factors were significantly associated with full (odds ratios 2.13-1.50) and partial (odds ratios 2.25-1.63) return to work in the follow-up period. Low level of lassitude was associated with full return to work (odds ratio 1.72) even when the other psychological factors were controlled for. Similarly, low fatigability was associated with partial return to work (odds ratio 1.81).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that psychological factors are important for both full and partial return to work among long-term sickness absentees who have undergone a multidisciplinary medical assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. klas.gustafsson@ki.se
authors.forename: Klas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lundh
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Svedberg
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alexanderson
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marklund
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004644:Emotions; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D062707:Return to Work / Q000523:psychology*; D018582:Sick Leave; D012890:Sleep; D055815:Young Adult