PURPOSE: To determine the agreement between occupational physician (OP) ratings of an employee's readiness to return to work (RRTW). METHOD: Anonymized written vignettes of 132 employees, sick-listed for at least 3 weeks, were reviewed by 5 OPs. The OPs intuitively rated RRTW as the ability (knowledge and skills) and willingness (motivation and confidence) of sick-listed employees to resume work. Inter-OP percentages of agreement were calculated and Cohen's kappas (κ) were determined to correct for agreement by chance. RESULTS: The percentage of agreement between OPs was 57% (range 39-89%) on the ability and 63% (range 48-87%) on the willingness of sick-listed employees to resume work. The mean κ was 0.14 (range from -0.21 to 0.79) for ability and 0.25 (range from -0.11 to 0.74) for willingness. The OP-rating of RRTW of employees sick-listed with mental disorders did not differ from the OP-rating of RRTW of employees with musculoskeletal disorders. CONCLUSION: The inter-OP agreement on intuitively rated RRTW showed a wide variability, which accentuates the need for instruments to establish an employee's RRTW and for training in giving well founded return to work recommendations.
PURPOSE: To determine the agreement between occupational physician (OP) ratings of an employee's readiness to return to work (RRTW). METHOD: Anonymized written vignettes of 132 employees, sick-listed for at least 3 weeks, were reviewed by 5 OPs. The OPs intuitively rated RRTW as the ability (knowledge and skills) and willingness (motivation and confidence) of sick-listed employees to resume work. Inter-OP percentages of agreement were calculated and Cohen's kappas (κ) were determined to correct for agreement by chance. RESULTS: The percentage of agreement between OPs was 57% (range 39-89%) on the ability and 63% (range 48-87%) on the willingness of sick-listed employees to resume work. The mean κ was 0.14 (range from -0.21 to 0.79) for ability and 0.25 (range from -0.11 to 0.74) for willingness. The OP-rating of RRTW of employees sick-listed with mental disorders did not differ from the OP-rating of RRTW of employees with musculoskeletal disorders. CONCLUSION: The inter-OP agreement on intuitively rated RRTW showed a wide variability, which accentuates the need for instruments to establish an employee's RRTW and for training in giving well founded return to work recommendations.
Authors: Jürgen Barth; Wout E L de Boer; Jason W Busse; Jan L Hoving; Sarah Kedzia; Rachel Couban; Katrin Fischer; David Y von Allmen; Jerry Spanjer; Regina Kunz Journal: BMJ Date: 2017-01-25