The relationship between health promoting resources and work participation in a sample reporting musculoskeletal pain from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, HUNT 3, Norway

A limited life - a mixed methods study on living with persistent pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain more than 12 years postpartum in Sweden

PURPOSE

The scope of this study is women's descriptions of symptoms experienced through persistent pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain (PPLP) as well as their strategies to cope with the condition.

METHODS

This is a mixed-method study based on questionnaire responses and inductive interviews with 12 Swedish women with self-reported PLP during pregnancy 2002 partaking in a 12-year postpartum follow-up questionnaire cohort. Test of statistical differences between the interview cohort and the total cohort was performed and the interviews were analysed through inductive qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

The questionnaire data showed that the interview sample reported significantly more pain than the questionnaire respondents but resembled the questionnaire respondents on most other characteristics. The theme "Balancing avoidance and activity" and its sub-themes illustrate the strategies the participants used to manage their situation on a daily basis. The pain was a constant reminder that led to evaluation of pros and cons for physical, social, and mental activities as well as the search for therapies and treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

For the women who participated in the interviews, living with persistent pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain caused limitations and negatively affected various and major parts of life to a far greater extent than previously known.Implications for rehabilitationPersisting pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain affects various and major parts of life, including working, physical and social activities, and psychological well-being.Rehabilitation should focus on individualized physical activities and effective coping strategies.Effort should be put into helping the patient find fulfilling explanatory reasons for the persisting pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain.

Physicians' Perspectives on Person-Related Factors Associated With Work Participation and Methods Used to Obtain Information About These Factors

OBJECTIVE

Person-related factors influencing work participation of employees with health problems are important. However, the best method to obtain information about them, according to occupational physicians (OPs) and insurance physicians (IPs), is unknown.

METHODS

Questionnaires in which OPs and IPs rated the importance of and described methods to obtain information about 10 person-related factors: expectations regarding recovery or return to work, optimism/pessimism, self-efficacy, motivation, feelings of control, perceived health, coping strategies, fear-avoidance beliefs, perceived work-relatedness, and catastrophizing.

RESULTS

OPs and IPs perceived all person-related factors, except for optimism/pessimism and perceived health as important for work participation. Information about the factors could best be obtained with use of a topic list during consultations.

CONCLUSIONS

OPs and IPs should take person-related factors into account during consultations and it is best to use a topic list when discussing them.

Workplace inclusion of employees with back pain and mental health problems: A focus group study about employees' experiences

Aim: To explore how employees experience workplace inclusion of their colleagues or themselves when having back pain or mental health problems. Methods: Three focus group interviews with a sample of 16 kindergarten employees were conducted. Systematic Text Condensation was used for analysis. Results: The participants emphasized that it was easier to include colleagues whose health problems were specific, especially when they were open about having problems and expressed their needs for accommodation clearly. Discussions revealed difficulties of acceptance and accommodating colleagues with longstanding health problems, when the burden on the other staff members was heavy, and if it had negative consequences for the kindergarten children. Some of the participants had experienced health problems themselves, which was also described as challenging. Having health problems at work often induced feelings of guilt, being a burden to their colleagues, and experiencing a disparity between the ideals and the realities of inclusion practices. Conclusions: Workplace inclusion of employees is difficult when their health problems are unspecific, longstanding, and lead to negative consequences for children or colleagues. System level efforts are necessary to reduce negative stereotypes about employees with health problems and facilitate inclusion practices.

Absenteeism due to musculoskeletal disorders in Brazilian workers: thousands days missed at work

OBJECTIVE

To describe and analyze the absenteeism of Brazilian workers notified with musculoskeletal disorders, from 2007 to 2012.

METHODS

This is a quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study, including retrospective and secondary data. The records came from the Information System of Notifiable Diseases, which notifies workers on a social security system, as well as informal workers. The study lasted for six years. We analyzed sociodemographic, work organization and injury variables.

RESULTS

There were approximately 5 million working days lost for 18,611 workers who were notified and removed from the position. The groups that stood out in the analysis were the illiterate people, in the age group of 50 to 59 years, with daily working hours higher than 6 hours, from the great occupational group 4, the ICD-10 M50 and M51, and workers with mental disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

High absenteeism among workers with musculoskeletal disorders, illiterate, aged from 50 to 59 years, administrative service workers, ICD-10 M51 and workers with mental disorders. It is necessary to outline public policies that contemplate the absenteeism caused by the disease, in order to reduce morbidity, as well as the socioeconomic losses.

Person-related factors associated with work participation in employees with health problems: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The objective of this systematic review was to explore and provide systematically assessed information about the association between person-related factors and work participation of people with health problems. The research question was: what is the association between selected person-related factors and work participation of workers with health problems?

METHODS

A systematic review was carried out in PubMed and PsycINFO to search for original papers published between January 2007 and February 2017. The risk of bias of the studies included was assessed using quality assessment tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute. The quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE framework for prognostic studies.

RESULTS

In total, 113 studies were included, all of which addressed the association between person-related factors and work participation. The factors positively associated with work participation were positive expectations regarding recovery or return to work, optimism, self-efficacy, motivation, feelings of control, and perceived health. The factors negatively associated with work participation were fear-avoidance beliefs, perceived work-relatedness of the health problem, and catastrophizing. Different coping strategies had a negative or a positive relationship with work participation.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this review provide more insight into the associations between different cognitions and perceptions and work participation. The results of this study suggest that person-related factors should be considered by occupational- and insurance physicians when they diagnose, evaluate or provide treatment to employees. Further research is required to determine how these physicians could obtain and apply such information and whether its application leads to a better quality of care.

Experiences of participating in return-to-work group programmes for people with musculoskeletal disorders: A focus group study

PURPOSE

The present study aimed to explore the experiences of individuals with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) who had participated in return-to-work group programmes (RTW-GPs) and to assess whether the programmes had had an impact on their work disability.

METHOD

Three focus group interviews and one individual interview were conducted involving 17 women (mean age = 47) with MSDs who had completed RTW-GPs. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analyses.

RESULTS

Participant experiences were categorised into three main themes: changed way of thinking, the importance of being able to work, and a changed lifestyle. The respondents said that participation in the RTW-GPs had enabled them to shift their focus from problems to opportunities. They had become more aware of strategies to enhance their energy levels and continue working. Several participants had reduced their work hours to achieve a better balance between work and daily life. Many participants had also changed their lifestyle habits, which had led to weight reduction, more energy and less pain.

CONCLUSION

The study participants had attained a heightened awareness of what they could do to continue working. Many participants had introduced changes in their daily lives, with consequences for employment, social life and lifestyle. The findings suggest that RTW-GPs can help people with MSDs to remain in employment and prevent absenteeism.

Rates and Correlates of Unemployment Across Four Common Chronic Pain Diagnostic Categories

PURPOSE

To examine rates and correlates of unemployment across distinct common chronic pain diagnoses.

METHODS

Data were analyzed from a sample of 2,382 patients with chronic pain in the Quebec Pain Registry (QPR). Patients were grouped into the following diagnostic categories based on their primary pain diagnosis recorded in the QPR: musculoskeletal pain; myofascial pain; neuropathic pain, and visceral pain. Analyses were performed to examine the associations between pain diagnosis, patient demographics, pain intensity, depressive symptoms, and unemployment status.

RESULTS

Pain diagnosis, age, marital status, education, pain intensity, and depressive symptoms were each significant unique predictors of unemployment status in a hierarchical logistic regression analysis; the addition of depressive symptoms in this model contributed to the greatest increment of model fit.

CONCLUSIONS

Depressive symptoms are associated with unemployment across a number of common chronic pain conditions, even when controlling for other factors that are associated with unemployment in these patients. Depressive symptoms, as a modifiable factor, may thus be an important target of intervention for unemployed patients with chronic pain.