OBJECTIVES: Vocational (dis-)ability is a central concept in social medicine. Beside from medical factors psychological and system factors play a crucial role in determining vocational disability. The development of instruments assessing the prognosis of gainful employment is an important task in rehabilitation research. METHODS: A short scale measuring the subjective prognosis of gainful employment (SPE-scale) was administered to 481 blue collar workers suffering from severe back pain or else functional syndromes. Employment status two or three years following the assessment is known. RESULTS: 11% of the subjects have applied for early retirement; 5% actually have retired. There are statistically significant relations of SPE-scores and subjects employment status. Effect sizes of the SPE-scores equal or even outrank those of other instruments assessing vocational (dis-)ability. The positive predictive power of the scale is low, though. CONCLUSIONS: The SPE scale can be recommended for further use in (rehabilitation) research. The employment of the instrument for medical appraisal has to be viewed with more caution. The percentage of subjects at risk for early retirement is largely overestimated in case of a positive test. Instruments like the SPE-scale can assist but never replace the medical appraisal.
OBJECTIVES: Vocational (dis-)ability is a central concept in social medicine. Beside from medical factors psychological and system factors play a crucial role in determining vocational disability. The development of instruments assessing the prognosis of gainful employment is an important task in rehabilitation research. METHODS: A short scale measuring the subjective prognosis of gainful employment (SPE-scale) was administered to 481 blue collar workers suffering from severe back pain or else functional syndromes. Employment status two or three years following the assessment is known. RESULTS: 11% of the subjects have applied for early retirement; 5% actually have retired. There are statistically significant relations of SPE-scores and subjects employment status. Effect sizes of the SPE-scores equal or even outrank those of other instruments assessing vocational (dis-)ability. The positive predictive power of the scale is low, though. CONCLUSIONS: The SPE scale can be recommended for further use in (rehabilitation) research. The employment of the instrument for medical appraisal has to be viewed with more caution. The percentage of subjects at risk for early retirement is largely overestimated in case of a positive test. Instruments like the SPE-scale can assist but never replace the medical appraisal.
Authors: Margrit Löbner; Janine Stein; Melanie Luppa; Alexander Konnopka; Hans Jörg Meisel; Lutz Günther; Jürgen Meixensberger; Katarina Stengler; Matthias C Angermeyer; Hans-Helmut König; Steffi G Riedel-Heller Journal: PLoS One Date: 2017-08-22 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Mercedes Rutsch; Jördis Frommhold; Heike Buhr-Schinner; Levan Djeiranachvili; Thomas Gross; Per Otto Schüller; Alexander Katalinic; Ruth Deck Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2021-04-22 Impact factor: 2.655
Authors: Margrit Löbner; Melanie Luppa; Alexander Konnopka; Hans J Meisel; Lutz Günther; Jürgen Meixensberger; Katarina Stengler; Matthias C Angermeyer; Hans-Helmut König; Steffi G Riedel-Heller Journal: PLoS One Date: 2014-03-05 Impact factor: 3.240