Abstract
BackgroundVarious rehabilitation services and return-to-work programs have been developed in order to reduce sickness absence and increase sustainable return-to-work. To ensure that people with a high risk of not returning to work can participate in working life, the model of work-related medical rehabilitation was developed in Germany. The efficacy of these programs in patients with mental disorders has been tested in only a few trials with very specific intervention approaches. To date, there is no clear evidence of the effectiveness of work-related medical rehabilitation implemented in real-care practice.Methods/designOur randomized controlled trial will be conducted in six rehabilitation centers across Germany. Within 15 months, 1800 patients with mental disorders (300 per rehabilitation center) will be recruited and assigned one-to-one either to a work-related medical rehabilitation program or to a conventional psychosomatic rehabilitation program. Participants will be aged 18–60 years. The control group will receive a conventional psychosomatic rehabilitation program without additional work-related components. The intervention group will receive a work-related medical rehabilitation program that contains at least 11 h of work-related treatment modules. Follow-up data will be assessed at the end of the rehabilitation and 3 and 12 months after completing the rehabilitation program. The primary outcome is a stable return to work. Secondary outcomes cover several dimensions of health, functioning and coping strategies. Focus groups and individual interviews supplement our study with qualitative data.DiscussionThis study will determine the relative effectiveness of a complex and newly implemented work-related rehabilitation strategy for patients with mental disorders.Trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00023175, September 29 2020).
Highlights
Various rehabilitation services and return-to-work programs have been developed in order to reduce sickness absence and increase sustainable return-to-work
We hypothesize that work-related medical rehabilitation (WMR) improves stable return to work 12 months after rehabilitation compared with conventional psychosomatic rehabilitation (CPR)
Participants are randomly assigned to a WMR or CPR group in a one-to-one ratio
Summary
Various rehabilitation services and return-to-work programs have been developed in order to reduce sickness absence and increase sustainable return-to-work. To ensure that people with a high risk of not returning to work can participate in working life, the model of work-related medical rehabilitation was developed in Germany. The efficacy of these programs in patients with mental disorders has been tested in only a few trials with very specific intervention approaches. A study in general practitioners’ practices has shown that people with mental disorders have twice as many days of sickness absence as people with chronic somatic illnesses [7]. Depression, adjustment disorders, somatoform disorders and anxiety disorders are the most frequent disorders treated [10]
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