Return to Work After Medical Rehabilitation for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

To describe and explain the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its related measures on return to work (RTW) outcomes after multimodal medical rehabilitation for musculoskeletal disorders. Retrospective cohort study. Three cohorts: reference (rehabilitation and RTW prepandemic), pand...

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Publicado en:Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Vol. 106; no. 11; pp. 1685 - 1694
Autores principales: Elling, Jan Mathis, Sänger, Nadine, Schwarz, Betje, Seifert, Nico, Hetzel, Christian
Formato: research Journal Article
Publicado: W B Saunders Nov2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2025
      vid: 106
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      pub: W B Saunders
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1016/j.apmr.2025.04.001
        188877291
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        atl: Return to Work After Medical Rehabilitation for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
      aug:
        au:
          Elling, Jan Mathis
          Sänger, Nadine
          Schwarz, Betje
          Seifert, Nico
          Hetzel, Christian
        affil: Institute for Quality Assurance in Prevention and Rehabilitation (IQPR),The German Sport University Cologne, Cologne
      sug:
        subj:
          Job Re-Entry
          Musculoskeletal Diseases Rehabilitation
          Medical Care
          COVID-19 Pandemic
          Germany
          Human
          Retrospective Design
          Prospective Studies
          Economic and Social Security Germany
          Descriptive Statistics
          Sick Leave
          Models, Statistical
      ab: To describe and explain the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its related measures on return to work (RTW) outcomes after multimodal medical rehabilitation for musculoskeletal disorders. Retrospective cohort study. Three cohorts: reference (rehabilitation and RTW prepandemic), pandemic 1 (rehabilitation prepandemic, RTW during pandemic), and pandemic 2 (rehabilitation and RTW during pandemic). Individuals who underwent multimodal medical rehabilitation for musculoskeletal disorders through the German Pension Insurance system between January 2018 and December 2021 (N=688,127). Not applicable. A successful and stable RTW was operationalized as having employment subject to social insurance contributions from 9 to 12 months after rehabilitation. Descriptive analysis revealed an RTW rate of 67.2% in the reference cohort, a slight decline in pandemic cohort 1 (66.3%), and a more pronounced decrease in pandemic cohort 2 (63.1%). In contrast, average marginal predictions from a logistic model including various covariates showed that both pandemic cohorts (63.8% and 64.4%) exhibited similarly reduced predicted probabilities of RTW compared with the reference cohort (66.5%). Individuals with sick leave durations exceeding 6 months, compared with those with shorter sick leaves, were more negatively affected by pandemic cohort 1; however, this effect recovered in pandemic cohort 2. The interaction between cohort and income did not show any amplifying effect of the pandemic. The logistic model revealed no differences in predicted probabilities of RTW between pandemic cohort 2 and pandemic cohort 1, suggesting that orthopedic rehabilitation remained robust in maintaining RTW outcomes despite pandemic-related challenges. The findings offer mixed evidence regarding the question of whether the pandemic amplified preexisting barriers to RTW.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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