Table 2.
Results of meta-regression analysis of return to work rates (%) following back pain related work absence
| Up to 1 month | 1–6 months | 6 months or longer | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Pooled estimate (95% CI) | Meta-regression | n | Pooled estimate (95% CI) | Meta-regression | n | Pooled estimate (95% CI) | Meta-regression | ||||
| p Value | Explained variance (%) | p Value | Explained variance (%) | p Value | Explained variance (%) | |||||||
| All studies | 13 | 68.2 (54.8 to 79.1) | 13 | 85.6 (78.2 to 90.7) | 10 | 93.3 (84.0 to 97.4) | ||||||
| Setting | 0.787 | 0.0 | 0.403 | 0.4 | 0.003 | 78.8 | ||||||
| Insurance database | 4 | 60.3 (56.6 to to 63.9) | 4 | 79.0 (64.3 to 88.7) | 2 | 97.7 (92.7 to 99.3) | ||||||
| Population | – | – | – | |||||||||
| Healthcare | 5 | 68.1 (28.9 to 91.8) | 7 | 84.4 (69.2 to 92.9) | 4 | 68.9 (54.2 to 80.6) | ||||||
| Workplace | 4 | 75.6 (51.4 to 90.0) | 2 | 95.7 (94.2 to 96.8) | 4 | 98.1 (95.7 to 99.2) | ||||||
| Geographical area | 0.727 | 0.0 | 0.303 | 5.9 | 0.323 | 1.4 | ||||||
| North America | 9 | 66.1 (49.5 to 79.6) | 9 | 80.4 (69.5 to 88.1) | 7 | 95.5 (82.5 to 98.9) | ||||||
| Europe | 4 | 72.8 (51.6 to 87.0) | 3 | 95.4 (94.0 to 96.5) | 3 | 84.7 (58.3 to 95.6) | ||||||
| Other | – | 2 | 81.8 (74.2 to 87.5) | – | ||||||||
| Study period* | 0.718 | 0.0 | 0.905 | 0.0 | 0.370 | 7.1 | ||||||
| 1977–1990 | 1 | 65.7 (61.4 to 69.8) | 2 | 89.4 (51.1 to 98.6) | 1 | 98.8 (97.3 to 99.5) | ||||||
| 1991–2000 | 8 | 75.1 (51.8 to 89.4) | 9 | 87.9 (74.8 to 94.7) | 6 | 91.2 (74.7 to 97.3) | ||||||
| 2001–2007 | 2 | 52.6 (37.1 to 67.5) | – | 2 | 98.0 (91.7 to 99.6) | |||||||
| Assessment | 0.261 | 3.3 | 0.836 | 0.0 | 0.008 | 57.4 | ||||||
| Electronic record | 6 | 57.3 (51.6 to 62.9) | 4 | 83.7 (74.6 to 89.9) | 5 | 98.1 (96.1 to 99.0) | ||||||
| Self-reported | 7 | 76.4 (43.8 to 93.1) | 9 | 86.6 (72.3 to 94.1) | 5 | 79.0 (62.7 to 89.3) | ||||||
| Participation bias | 0.039 | 27.3 | 0.014 | 39.5 | 0.363 | 3.6 | ||||||
| Low risk of bias | 10 | 58.6 (45.9 to 70.3) | 11 | 79.8 (71.4 to 86.2) | 8 | 94.5 (83.1 to 98.4) | ||||||
| Moderate risk of bias | 3 | 89.5 (57.2 to 98.2) | 2 | 98.2 (92.7 to 99.6) | 1 | 97.2 (95.2 to 98.4) | ||||||
| High risk of bias | – | – | 1 | 55.7 (51.3 to 60.0) | ||||||||
*Two studies did not report study period.
n, number of studies.