Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study
Objectives - The lack of efficient medical interventions for combating increasing sickness absence rates has lead to the introduction of alternative measures initiated by the Norwegian National Insurance Service or at workplaces. The aim of this study was to determine if minimal postal intervention...
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2006
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:oemed:oem.2005.020438v1 2023-05-15T17:43:37+02:00 Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study Fleten, Nils Johnsen, Roar 2006-04-27 07:02:33.0 text/html http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/oem.2005.020438v1 https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020438 en eng BMJ Publishing Group Ltd http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/oem.2005.020438v1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020438 Copyright (C) 2006, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd Paper TEXT 2006 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020438 2013-05-27T01:22:11Z Objectives - The lack of efficient medical interventions for combating increasing sickness absence rates has lead to the introduction of alternative measures initiated by the Norwegian National Insurance Service or at workplaces. The aim of this study was to determine if minimal postal intervention had any effect on the length of sick leave. Methods - A randomized, controlled trial with a 1-year follow-up in Northern Norway in 1997 and 1998 included 990 consecutive newly sick-listed persons with musculoskeletal or mental disorders. Within the intervention group 495 eligible sick listed received a general information letter and a questionnaire as their sick leave passed 14 days. Possible intervention effects were analysed by survival analysis of the probability of returning to work within one year, and logistic regressions with benefits at one year as the dependent variable. Results - The overall reduction of 8.3 (95% CI -22.5, 6.0) calendar days in mean length of sick leaves in the intervention group compared to controls, were not statistically significant. However, intervention significantly reduced length of sick leaves in subgroups with mental disorders, with rheumatic disorders and arthritis, and overall for sick leaves lasting 12 weeks or more. Young with low back pain showed an adverse effect to intervention. The overall relative risk of having benefits due to sickness after one year in the intervention group was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.51-0.93) compared to controls. Conclusion - The results should encourage employees, insurance institutions and authorities to initiate challenges as questions on the length of sick leave and possible modified work measures, during the first few weeks of sick leave, for at least some groups of sick- listed persons. Text Northern Norway HighWire Press (Stanford University) Norway Occupational and Environmental Medicine 63 10 676 682 |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
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Paper Fleten, Nils Johnsen, Roar Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
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Paper |
description |
Objectives - The lack of efficient medical interventions for combating increasing sickness absence rates has lead to the introduction of alternative measures initiated by the Norwegian National Insurance Service or at workplaces. The aim of this study was to determine if minimal postal intervention had any effect on the length of sick leave. Methods - A randomized, controlled trial with a 1-year follow-up in Northern Norway in 1997 and 1998 included 990 consecutive newly sick-listed persons with musculoskeletal or mental disorders. Within the intervention group 495 eligible sick listed received a general information letter and a questionnaire as their sick leave passed 14 days. Possible intervention effects were analysed by survival analysis of the probability of returning to work within one year, and logistic regressions with benefits at one year as the dependent variable. Results - The overall reduction of 8.3 (95% CI -22.5, 6.0) calendar days in mean length of sick leaves in the intervention group compared to controls, were not statistically significant. However, intervention significantly reduced length of sick leaves in subgroups with mental disorders, with rheumatic disorders and arthritis, and overall for sick leaves lasting 12 weeks or more. Young with low back pain showed an adverse effect to intervention. The overall relative risk of having benefits due to sickness after one year in the intervention group was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.51-0.93) compared to controls. Conclusion - The results should encourage employees, insurance institutions and authorities to initiate challenges as questions on the length of sick leave and possible modified work measures, during the first few weeks of sick leave, for at least some groups of sick- listed persons. |
format |
Text |
author |
Fleten, Nils Johnsen, Roar |
author_facet |
Fleten, Nils Johnsen, Roar |
author_sort |
Fleten, Nils |
title |
Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
title_short |
Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
title_full |
Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
title_fullStr |
Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
title_sort |
reducing sick leave by minimal postal intervention; a randomized, controlled intervention study |
publisher |
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/oem.2005.020438v1 https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020438 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Northern Norway |
op_relation |
http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/oem.2005.020438v1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020438 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2006, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020438 |
container_title |
Occupational and Environmental Medicine |
container_volume |
63 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
676 |
op_container_end_page |
682 |
_version_ |
1766145731052175360 |