title: Reducing the incidence of short-term disability: testing the effectiveness of an absence prediction and prevention intervention using an experimental design.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This multi-employer, prospective, randomized, controlled trial validated a quantitative model to identify employees at high risk of short-term disability (STD) and evaluated the impact of a health advocate nurse-led intervention on STD incidence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Following prospective randomization, the control group received usual and customary services while the intervention group received usual and customary plus additional services from Cigna.*
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the 12-month assessment, 16.8% of the intervention group had documented STD claims compared with 19.8% of the control group (P = 0.06). Duration of STD and return to work rate were not statistically different.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While not statistically significant, these results suggest that the intervention for employees at high risk of STD achieves practical and clinical significance by achieving absolute and relative reductions in risk of STD of 3% and 15%, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytics, Cigna, Raleigh, NC, USA. Larry.Melton@Cigna.com
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Melton
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anfield
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dunnington
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000379:methods*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D062707:Return to Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*