Expert@Work - Effectiveness of a Digital Expert Team on Return to Work

St. Olavs Hospital

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Mental Disorder; Musculoskeletal Diseases

Treatments: Procedure: Digital expert team

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05575908

2021/11991

Details and patient eligibility

About

Long-term sick leave is a challenge in Norway, and the healthcare and labor- and welfare services are often not coordinated in helping the sick-listed employees return to work. In this study, the investigators want to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention where an expert team provides advice for an individualized patient pathway based on information from a digital questionnaire and a video meeting with the sick-listed employee and the participant's general practitioner. The patient pathway should include both healthcare and labor- and welfare services measures.

Sick-listed patients with musculoskeletal- and/or common mental disorders are invited to join the study. They will receive a digital questionnaire and be randomized to either treatment as usual or personalized advice from an expert team. The team will be put together based on the response from the individual's questionnaire.

The investigators will evaluate the effect on return to work and the use of health care services 12 months after the intervention.

Enrollment: 170 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Sick-listed minimum 50% between 11 and 20 weeks
• Musculoskeletal disorder and/or common mental disorder
• Living in the county of Trøndelag or Møre- og Romsdal

Exclusion criteria

• Specific conditions such as fracture, trauma, infections, malignancy, dislocations, etc.
• Serious mental conditions or another serious disease that makes participation difficult
• Most likely to return to work within 2 weeks
• Not speaking/reading Norwegian

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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170 participants in 2 patient groups

Digital expert team

Experimental group

Description:

The participants allocated to this arm will receive personalized advice from an expert team. The participants will have one video meeting with the team and receive a written report.

Treatment:

Procedure: Digital expert team

Treatment as usual

No Intervention group

Description:

The participants will answer a digital questionnaire and will get normal follow-up from his/her general practitioner and labor- and welfare administration (NAV).