Prospective Analysis of Factors Associated with Work Reentry in Patients with Accident-Related Injuries

Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of accidents, the physical and psychological consequences, the patient’s predisposition as well as work-related cognitions on return to work (RTW) post accident. Despite the costs of time-off from work after accidental injuries, very few investigations have been carried out so far. Method: In a consecutive sample, 163 patients were investigated directly and 12 months after an accident. Results: 32% of the patients had a poor occupational integration 12 months after an accident. As predictors for return to work were found type of prior work: laborer (OR=4.34; 1.79–10.50 CI 95%), type of accident: recreational (OR=0.27; 0.11–0.69 CI 95%) and subjective perception of the accident severity (OR=0.98; 0.96–0.99 CI 95%). Conclusion: Laborers after a traffic or work accident, who estimate the accident as severe, are at greater risk of developping long-term disability. Future efforts should be conducted especially for this target group. Corinna Lange and Markus Burgmer contributed equally to the present work and should therefore both be considered as first authors.