title: The Effectiveness of an Intervention to Enhance Cooperation Between Sick-Listed Employees and Their Supervisors (COSS).
abstract: Introduction Early return-to-work (RTW) after sick leave is considered to support employees' quality of life. Successful RTW requires adequate cooperation between absent employees and their supervisors. This study assesses the effectiveness of an intervention for COoperation regarding RTW between Sick-listed employees and their Supervisors (COSS; i.e. 'conversation roadmap', monitoring of cooperation and, if necessary, extra occupational physician support). Methods In this field study, employees on sick leave for 2-10 weeks, aged 18 up to and including 60, and performing paid labour for at least 12 h per week were included. Terminally ill were excluded. Multivariate regression (correcting for baseline quality of life) was used to compare 6-months follow up data regarding quality of life between the groups. Using Cox regression analyses, time until first-, full-, and sustainable RTW was compared between groups. Results In total 64 employees received COSS or common practice. No significant group differences were found regarding all study outcomes. The COSS group had a higher chance of work resumption than the common practice group. The hazard ratio was 1.39 for first RTW (95 % CI 0.81-2.37), 1.12 for full RTW (95 % CI 0.65-1.93) and 1.10 for sustainable RTW (95 % CI 0.63-1.95). Conclusions COSS has no significant effects. Yet, the results regarding work resumption show a tendency towards effectiveness. Therefore, COSS can be further developed and applied in practice. Researchers should try to prevent some limitations of the present study in future research, for instance by finding a more common research setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands. nicole_hoefsmit@outlook.com.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hoefsmit
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Houkes
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nicolle
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boumans
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Noben
authors.affiliation: Department of Methodology and Statistics, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bjorn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winkens
authors.affiliation: Department of Work and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frans J N
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Nijhuis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011788:Quality of Life; D062707:Return to Work; D020377:Self Efficacy; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cooperation; Effect evaluation; Intervention; Return-to-work; Sick leave