The effect of work-focused rehabilitation among patients with neck and back pain: A randomized controlled trial

Study Design. Multicenter randomized trial with patients listed
as sick for 1 to 12 months due to neck or back pain and referred to
secondary care.
Objective. To compare the return-to-work (RTW) rate among
patients offered work-focused rehabilitation or multidisciplinary
rehabilitation.
Summary of Background Data. A growing number of studies
have focused on the RTW processes associated with patients with
back pain. Many studies have combined a workplace focus with
multidisciplinary treatments; however, this focus has not been
evaluated in Norway among patients with neck and back pain thus
far.
Methods. A total of 405 patients who were referred to the spine
clinics at 2 university hospitals in Norway were randomly assigned
into work-focused and control intervention groups. The existing
treatments at each hospital were used as the control interventions,
which entailed either a comprehensive multidisciplinary
intervention or a brief multidisciplinary intervention. The RTW rates
and proportions were compared at 12 months.