The Relationship Between Work-Disability Duration and Claimant's Expected Time to Return to Work as Recorded by Workers' Compensation Claims Managers.

The outcome was the end of temporary total disability payments, not confirmed actual return to work. The expected return-to-work date was recorded by claims managers, and the wording of the question was not standardised. The data came from one United States workers' compensation insurer, so the findings may not apply to other insurers or to non-work-related disability. Workplace factors such as relationships, accommodations, work demands and distress were not measured. The study is observational, so it shows an association, not that changing expectations improves return to work. Claimants with missing data were excluded; they had shorter disability duration and earlier expected return than the analysed sample.

Do not read an expected return-to-work date as a precise individual forecast or proof that a treatment caused longer disability. The study found an association, and the outcome was the end of temporary total disability payments, not confirmed actual return to work.