Return-to-Work Following Occupational Rehabilitation for Long COVID: Descriptive Cohort Study.
Katelyn Brehon, Riikka Niemeläinen, Mark Hall and 4 others
PMID 36094442WHAT IT FOUND
Only 53% of workers with long COVID returned to work after rehabilitation, and 93% of those who did required modified duties.
Having modified duties available at admission was the strongest predictor of returning to work. Symptoms improved modestly, but function and PTSD did not.
Key findings
01Only a small majority (53%) of workers returned to work at program discharge, and of those, 93% returned to modified duties.
02Workers with modified duties available at admission were significantly more likely to return to work (OR 3.20), even after controlling for age and gender.
03While pain, fatigue, and depression scores improved significantly, overall functional limitations (PCFS) and PTSD symptoms (PCL-5) did not show significant improvement.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was relatively small (N=81). There was substantial missing data on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), with 72% of workers not completing at least one measure. The study could not build multivariable predictive models due to the sample size and missing data. The rehabilitation program was multidisciplinary, so it is impossible to attribute outcomes to any single therapy component. Workers who had not yet been discharged were excluded, potentially biasing the sample toward those who completed the program.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the rehabilitation program itself caused the improvements in pain and fatigue. This was a single-group pre-post descriptive study with no control group, so natural recovery or other factors could explain the changes. Additionally, the lack of improvement in functional status suggests the program may not have effectively addressed the core disability of long COVID.