Effects of Inpatient Multicomponent Occupational Rehabilitation versus Less Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation on Somatic and Mental Health: Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

The main outcome was sickness absence, and this paper reports secondary health outcomes, so it is not a direct test of whether the programs improve health. The study had no usual care control group, so it cannot separate the effects of rehabilitation from time. Questionnaire response dropped over follow-up. Only 43% of inpatient participants and 47% of outpatient participants answered at 12 months. Participants and caregivers knew which program they received, and researchers were not blinded. Only 275 of 3318 invited participants accepted the invitation. This limits generalizability. The study included mixed diagnostic groups, so effects for specific diagnoses may be harder to detect. Power was calculated for sickness absence, not for these health outcomes.

Funding was provided by Norges Forskningsråd, the Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Helse Midt-Norge.

Do not read the pain result as evidence that outpatient rehabilitation is better for pain. The main trial outcome was sickness absence, and it showed no difference between programs. The pain result was a secondary finding, and the authors state it was not clinically significant and should be interpreted with caution.