A survey of support systems for return to work in Japanese companies: a cross-sectional study

Timing of Health Service Use Among Truck Drivers After a Work-Related Injury or Illness

Purposes Timely delivery of treatment and rehabilitation is generally acknowledged to support injury recovery. This study aimed to describe the timing of health service use by injured truck drivers with work-related injury and to explore the association between demographic and injury factors and the duration of health service use. Methods Retrospective cohort study of injured truck drivers with accepted workers' compensation claims in the state of Victoria, Australia. Descriptive analyses examined the percentage of injured truck drivers using health services by service type. Logistic regression model examined predictors of any service use versus no service use, and predictors of extended service use (≥ 52 weeks) versus short-term use. Results The timing of health service use by injured truck drivers with accepted workers' compensation claims varies substantially by service type. General practitioner, specialist physician, and physical therapy service use peaks within the 14 weeks after compensation claim lodgement, whilst the majority of mental health services were accessed in the persistent phase beyond 14 weeks after claim lodgement. Older age, being employed by small companies, and claiming compensation for mental health conditions were associated with greater duration of health service use. Conclusions Injured truck drivers access a wide range of health services during the recovery and return to work process. Delivery of mental health services is delayed, including for those making mental health compensation claims. Health service planning should take into account worker and employer characteristics in addition to injury type.

Mental health: Professional rehabilitation and the return to work - A systematic review

BACKGROUND

The problem of illnesses, sick leave and the necessary return to work and permanence at work has been determining the development of different protocols and professional rehabilitation programs in different countries.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to identify articles that address programs for professional rehabilitation and the return to work of people laid off due to mental health problems, and to verify the results of professional rehabilitation programs and the follow-up processes for such return.

METHOD

A systematic review was performed according to the criteria of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA). The serial search of the articles was carried out in the electronic databases: Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed and Scopus. The variations in the descriptors served to find a greater range of significant results for the research.

RESULTS

In total, 2,306 articles were found. Another two articles that met the inclusion criteria were located through manual searches, adding up to a total of 2,308. Applying the exclusion criteria resulted in a final data set of 47 peer-reviewed articles.

CONCLUSIONS

The issues involving return to work and permanence in work were complex and multifaceted in the research articles studied. Recovery from Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) is a major cause of long-term sick leave and the granting of disability benefits. Many people with these diagnoses remain employed; however, further studies are needed with women, workers with fragile relationships, and immigrants.

Factors Associated With Time to Achieve Employment Through Occupational Support Programs in Patients With Mood Disorders: 1 Year Naturalistic Study

Objective: Mood disorders cause significant work performance disability in sufferers and often lead to adverse employment outcomes in working individuals. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with time to achieve employment through the occupational support program (OSP) for patients with mood disorders. Methods: The participants were patients admitted to the Kyorin university hospital from April 2016 to April 2019. Patients who met the criteria for major depressive disorder and depressive episode of bipolar I or II disorder according to DSM-5 and participated in the occupational therapy-based OSP for at least three sessions (one course) were included in this study. We collected demographic and clinical variables at the baseline of this study through medical records and OSP records; the variables included age, gender, diagnosis, scores of Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology and Global Assessment of Functioning, the number of times of participation in the OSP, word count of the transcription task in the OSP, typographical deficiency, fatigue status and mood status after the OSP. The primary outcome was set as the time to achieve the employment within 1 year after the discharge. Results: Of the 211 patients who participated in the OSP during the survey period, 49 participants met the criteria in this study. The results showed that 14 patients achieved and the other 35 patients did not achieve the employment within 1 year of discharge from the hospital. A multivariate cox regression analysis revealed that the word count of the transcription task in the OSP (HR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.05, p = 0.016) and mood status after the OSP (HR = 2.77, 95% CI = 1.18-6.51, p = 0.019) were significantly associated with time to achieve the employment. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study suggested that work speed and mood response in the OSP could be significant predictors for achieving employment in patients with mood disorders.