Abstract
Objective: To implement an early occupational intervention which tackles the psychosocial factors (yellow and blue flags) that influence recovery from occupational back pain.
Design: An early, psychosocial, occupational health nurse-led intervention using a basic ‘counselling’ technique that reinforces evidence-based messages and advice, along with availability of modified work.
Subjects: 206 workers from a sample of Glaxosmithkline sites who took absence due to back pain.
Outcome measures: Duration of presenting absence.
Results: The target for contacting the worker was achieved at Site 1 (mean 3 days), but not Site 2 (mean 12 days). Results showed that late contact of absent workers (> 1 week) was significantly associated with both longer presenting absence and fewer recipients of the psychosocial intervention, compared with early contact. Preliminary results show that the psychosocial intervention (irrespective of early or late contact) reduces the length of presenting absence by half.
Conclusions: The lack of early contact at Site 2 was due to local sickness absence management differences. This study reveals a third class of obstacles to recovery – organisational policies (black flags) – that can negate the effect of occupational rehabilitation programs.
Abstracts prepared by Mr. A. J. Stirling, FRCS, and Miss A. Weaver. Correspondence should be addressed to Miss A. Weaver at the Research and Teaching Centre, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2AP, UK
BritSpine 2002, the second combined meeting of the British Association of Spinal Surgeons, the British Cervical Spine Society, The British Scoliosis Society and the Society for Back Pain Research, took place at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham UK between 27th February and 1st March 2002. The following presentations and posters were given and displayed.
