Abstract
BackgroundWith nearly 30 % of the general population experiencing one mental disorder in 12 months, common mental disorders (CMDs) are highly prevalent in Germany and mainly affect the workforce. Therefore, the processes of successfully returning to work (RTW) and achieving a sustainable RTW (SRTW) are important not only for recovery but the prevention of negative consequences like job loss or disability retirement. While factors influencing and predicting the time until RTW are well-investigated in other countries, research on determinants of RTW and SRTW has received little attention in Germany. Consequently, this study aims to investigate the RTW and SRTW processes due to CMDs from the employees´ perspective in Germany.MethodsThis prospective cohort study uses a convergent parallel mixed methods design with a quantitative sample and qualitative sub-sample. Two hundred eighty-six participants of the quantitative study and a sub-sample of 32 participants of the qualitative study were included. The primary outcome of the quantitative study is the time until RTW and full RTW. The secondary outcome is the sustainability of RTW. The following measures will be used to cover work-, RTW- and health-related factors: working time, duration of sickness absences, functional ability, work ability, RTW self-efficacy, social support, work-privacy conflict, job satisfaction, job crafting and depressive symptoms. Quantitative and qualitative data will be integrated at the end.DiscussionThe paper provides an overview on study design, recruitment, sample characteristics and baseline findings of an 18 months mixed methods follow-up study in Germany. This study will provide evidence of (S)RTW processes and its influencing factors due to CMDs in Germany and therefore contribute to further improvement of its (S)RTW practices.Trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register (ID: DRKS00010903, July 28, 2017, retrospectively registered).
Highlights
With nearly 30 % of the general population experiencing one mental disorder in 12 months, common mental disorders (CMDs) are highly prevalent in Germany and mainly affect the workforce
This paper provides an overview of the study design, recruitment, sample characteristics including a nonresponse analysis and baseline findings of the first (S)returning to work (RTW) mixed-methods follow-up cohort study in Germany
The quantitative study shows that the vast majority of the participants had a positive expectation to RTW within 3 months, with the participants from the rehabilitation facilities being more optimistic and expecting a faster return than the psychiatric participants
Summary
Jurisdictional context In Germany, employees on sick leave receive full payment from their employer during the first 6 weeks of an illness every year. Data collection and measurements It was planned that 300 participants should take part in four telephone surveys (quantitative study) and a sub-sample of 32 participants should take part in the interviews (qualitative study), see Fig. 1 for the study procedure. We describe quantitative and qualitative baseline findings with a non-response analysis and characteristics of the participants stratified by the two examined mental health services, group differences were analysed with chi-square tests and t-tests (see Table 2). Participants of the rehabilitation group were on average 3 years older, had more fixed working hours or shift work, less sedentary work, a faster RTW expectation, and reported higher RTW self-efficacy, higher work ability, better self-rated health, greater functional ability and less depressive symptoms than the psychiatric participants.
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