title: Prognostic factors for return to work after low-back disc herniation surgery.
abstract: Return to work (RTW) is an important outcome following disc herniation surgery. The present study aimed at determining factors that may affect early RTW after disc herniation surgery. Data were collected from 603 patients who underwent disc herniation surgery in an educational hospital via phone interviews during a 4-year period (2005-2009). Delayed RTW and failed RTW were associated with female gender, lower educational levels, longer hospitalization periods, greater BMI, biological age exceeding 40 years, employment in manual labor, lack of encouragement by the physician to RTW, being in pain at the time of the phone interview, having negative expectations about the outcome of surgery preoperatively, and low job satisfaction (P < .05). Psychological and occupational factors have direct effects on RTW. Important factors include positive expectations about the outcome of surgery, encouragement by the physician to RTW, job characteristics, and job satisfaction. RTW can be accelerated by appropriate strategies and team work.
authors.affiliation: National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seyedmehdi
authors.affiliation: Occupational Medicine Department and Brain and Spinal cord injury research center (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran drmsattarchi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mirsaeed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Attarchi
authors.affiliation: Occupational Medicine Department and Brain and Spinal cord injury research center (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
authors.affiliation: Occupational Medicine Department and Brain and Spinal cord injury research center (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Occupational Medicine Department and Brain and Spinal cord injury research center (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Darnahal
authors.affiliation: Petroleum Industry Health Organization (PIHO), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zargham
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000601:surgery*; D007492:Iran; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D062707:Return to Work / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: disc herniation surgery; low-back pain; return to work