PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Louise Lindholdt
AU  - Merete Labriola
AU  - Claus Vinther Nielsen
AU  - Trine Allerslev Horsbøl
AU  - Thomas Lund
TI  - Sequence analysis to assess labour market participation following vocational rehabilitation: an observational study among patients sick-listed with low back pain from a randomised clinical trial in Denmark
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015661
DP  - 2017 Jul 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e015661
VI  - 7
IP  - 7
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/7/e015661.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/7/e015661.full
SO  - BMJ Open2017 Jul 01; 7
AB  - Introduction The return-to-work (RTW) process after long-term sickness absence is often complex and long and implies multiple shifts between different labour market states for the absentee. Standard methods for examining RTW research typically rely on the analysis of one outcome measure at a time, which will not capture the many possible states and transitions the absentee can go through. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential added value of sequence analysis in supplement to standard regression analysis of a multidisciplinary RTW intervention among patients with low back pain (LBP).Methods The study population consisted of 160 patients randomly allocated to either a hospital-based brief or a multidisciplinary intervention. Data on labour market participation following intervention were obtained from a national register and analysed in two ways: as a binary outcome expressed as active or passive relief at a 1-year follow-up and as four different categories for labour market participation. Logistic regression and sequence analysis were performed.Results The logistic regression analysis showed no difference in labour market participation for patients in the two groups after 1 year. Applying sequence analysis showed differences in subsequent labour market participation after 2 years after baseline in favour of the brief intervention group versus the multidisciplinary intervention group.Conclusion The study indicated that sequence analysis could provide added analytical value as a supplement to traditional regression analysis in prospective studies of RTW among patients with LBP.