Abstract
BackgroundThe costs of arm, shoulder and neck symptoms are high. In order to decrease these costs employers implement interventions aimed at reducing these symptoms. One frequently used intervention is the RSI QuickScan intervention programme. It establishes a risk profile of the target population and subsequently advises interventions following a decision tree based on that risk profile. The purpose of this study was to perform an economic evaluation, from both the societal and companies' perspective, of the RSI QuickScan intervention programme for computer workers. In this study, effectiveness was defined at three levels: exposure to risk factors, prevalence of arm, shoulder and neck symptoms, and days of sick leave.MethodsThe economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Participating computer workers from 7 companies (N = 638) were assigned to either the intervention group (N = 320) or the usual care group (N = 318) by means of cluster randomisation (N = 50). The intervention consisted of a tailor-made programme, based on a previously established risk profile. At baseline, 6 and 12 month follow-up, the participants completed the RSI QuickScan questionnaire. Analyses to estimate the effect of the intervention were done according to the intention-to-treat principle. To compare costs between groups, confidence intervals for cost differences were computed by bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrapping.ResultsThe mean intervention costs, paid by the employer, were 59 euro per participant in the intervention and 28 euro in the usual care group. Mean total health care and non-health care costs per participant were 108 euro in both groups. As to the cost-effectiveness, improvement in received information on healthy computer use as well as in their work posture and movement was observed at higher costs. With regard to the other risk factors, symptoms and sick leave, only small and non-significant effects were found.ConclusionsIn this study, the RSI QuickScan intervention programme did not prove to be cost-effective from the both the societal and companies' perspective and, therefore, this study does not provide a financial reason for implementing this intervention. However, with a relatively small investment, the programme did increase the number of workers who received information on healthy computer use and improved their work posture and movement.Trial registrationTrial registration number: NTR1117
Highlights
The costs of arm, shoulder and neck symptoms are high
This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness and costbenefits of the RSI QuickScan intervention programme on exposure to risk factors, prevalence of arm, shoulder
The intervention was not cost-effective compared to usual care
Summary
The costs of arm, shoulder and neck symptoms are high. In order to decrease these costs employers implement interventions aimed at reducing these symptoms. The purpose of this study was to perform an economic evaluation, from both the societal and companies’ perspective, of the RSI QuickScan intervention programme for computer workers. Available cost estimates of musculoskeletal disorders from 15 European countries put the cost between 0.5% and 2% of their gross domestic products[2] These costs include lost production, staff sickness, compensation and insurance costs, losing experienced staff and recruiting and training new staff, and the effect of discomfort or ill health on the quality of work [2]. The total yearly costs of arm, shoulder and neck symptoms in the Netherlands due to decreased productivity, sick leave, chronic disability for work and medical costs were estimated at 2.1 billion Euros [4]
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