Musculoskeletal disorders are the main causes for sickness absence and disability benefits in Norway and the leading causes of disability worldwide. There is strong evidence that long-term sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders provides a poor prognosis, both in terms of work-related disability, physical and mental health, and health related quality-of-life. To assist people return to work a range of vocational rehabilitation programs exist, but the initiatives have not been able to reduce the number of people who are on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders. In Norway, The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) case-workers have taken such approaches in use, primarily by teaching their employees with user contact in how to use Motivational Interviewing (MI). However, the evidence on the effectiveness of MI on return to work is highly uncertain. The objectives of this project are to compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of usual case management alone with usual case management plus MI or usual case management plus stratified vocational advice intervention (SVAI), on RTW among people on sick leave due to musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders. All musculoskeletal diagnoses will be included. A multi-arm randomised controlled trial with 150 participants in each group will be conducted within the NAV system in Norway to evaluate these research questions.
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Sickness absence days
Timeframe: 6 months