Table 6.
Intervention characteristics
| Study | Timing of intervention, early intervention: starts within 6 weeks of absence | Care professionals involved, multidisciplinary | Planning of activities to support RTW, time contingency, activities followed time schedule | Target population | Character of activities to support RTW, explicit actions to stimulate RTWa | Intensityb | Employee and employer role, decision authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brouwers et al. [11] | No/no restrictiction | No | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Moderate | Yes |
| van der Feldtz-Cornelis et al. [12] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Mortelmans et al. [13] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | No | Generic: all absent employees |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Bogefeldt et al. [18] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Bültmann et al. [20] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: yes |
High | Yes |
| Fleten and Johnsen [24] | No/no restrictiction | No | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | Yes |
| van der Klink et al. [16] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High/moderate | Yes |
| Arnetz et al. [19] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: yes |
Low or variable | No |
| Bakker et al. [29] | No/no restrictiction | No | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High | Yes |
| Drews et al. [32] | No/no restrictiction | No | No | Generic: all absent employees |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | Yes |
| Hagen et al. [30] | No/no restrictiction | Uncertain | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High | No |
| Nystuen and Hagen [31] | No/no restrictiction | No | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High | Yes |
| Braathen et al. [25] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | Yes | Generic: all absent employees |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High | Yes |
| Marhold et al. [23] | No/no restrictiction | No | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: yes Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High | No |
| Grossi and Santell [22] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
High | Yes |
| Godges et al. [26] | No/no restrictiction | No | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Matheson and Brophy [21] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: yes Gradual exposure: yes Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Weiler et al. [15] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | Yes | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: yes Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: yes |
High | No |
| van Oostrom et al. [14] | No/no restrictiction | Yes | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: yes Gradual exposure: yes Work-related adaptations: yes |
Low or variable | No |
| Carroll et al. [17] | Yes | Yes | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: yes Gradual exposure: yes Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Meijer et al. [7] | No/no restrictiction | Uncertain | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Norlund et al. [27] | No/no restrictiction | Uncertain | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
| Tveito et al. [28] | No/no restrictiction | Uncertain | No | Specific diagnosis |
Decision RTW: no Gradual exposure: no Work-related adaptations: no |
Low or variable | No |
RTW return to work
Criteria and sub criteria of a characteristic (for example A, B) are in line with the criteria for evaluating the composition of the included interventions (Table 3)
Studies are listed in order of methodological quality
aThree types of actions to stimulate the employee to return to work, which are: making a decision about actual return to work (when and/or how it takes place), gradual exposure to the workplace (for example when employees resume work for a limited but increasing number of hours per week) and implemented work-related adaptations, e.g. workplace (such as ergonomic improvements of furniture)
bHigh: ≥10 h, more than 1 session/moderate: <10 h, more than 1 session/low: once or variable