Brief biopsychosocially informed education can improve insurance workers' back pain beliefs: Implications for improving claims management behaviours.
Darren Beales, Tim Mitchell, Naomi Pole and 1 others
PMID 27792030WHAT IT FOUND
Insurance workers who received two short biopsychosocial education sessions reported more positive back pain beliefs and rated their self-reported claims management change 4.8 out of 10 on average.
No control group means this does not prove the education caused those changes.
Key findings
01Insurance workers' back pain beliefs improved after two 1.5 hour education sessions, with HC-PAIRS scores decreasing by 5.1 points and BBQ scores increasing by 1.7 points; the changes were still present at three months.
02At three months, participants rated change in claims management practice 4.8 out of 10 on average, and more than 50% reported a change of 5 or more.
03All five injury management advisors reported observing positive changes in case managers, including more engagement and more seeking of opinions and guidance on complex claims.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study had no control group, so the education cannot be separated from other workplace changes or the novelty of training. Outcomes were mostly self-reported, and the study did not measure objective claims data, injured worker outcomes, return to work, or claim costs. Forty-four workers attended the first session and 32 had full data at follow-up, so the sample was small and some participants were lost. Participants lost to follow-up tended to be older, have more experience, and not have health or medical training, which may affect generalisability. The education was not specific to one body region, but only back pain beliefs were measured. The study did not describe what specific claims management behaviours changed.
Declared interests
Participants were employed by CGU Insurance Limited, and the education program was developed with injury management representatives from the company. The authors report no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the positive belief and claims management ratings as proof that education improves patient outcomes. The study had no control group, relied on self-reported change, and did not measure injured workers' return to work or claim costs.