Effectiveness of adding motivational interviewing or a stratified vocational advice intervention to usual case management on return to work for people with musculoskeletal disorders: the MI-NAV randomised controlled trial

Fiona Aanesen*, Margreth Grotle, Tarjei Langseth Rysstad, Anne Therese Tveter, Alexander Tingulstad, Ida Løchting, Milada C. Småstuen, Maurits W. Van Tulder, Rigmor Berg, Nadine E. Foster, Gwenllian Wynne-Jones, Gail Sowden, Egil Fors, Gunnhild Bagøien, Roger Hagen, Kjersti Storheim, Britt Elin Øiestad

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate if adding motivational interviewing (MI) or a stratified vocational advice intervention (SVAI) to usual case management (UC), reduced sickness absence over 6 months for workers on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders.

METHODS: We conducted a three-arm parallel pragmatic randomised controlled trial including 514 employed workers (57% women, median age 49 (range 24-66)), on sick leave for at least 50% of their contracted work hours for ≥7 weeks. All participants received UC. In addition, those randomised to UC+MI were offered two MI sessions from social insurance caseworkers and those randomised to UC+SVAI were offered vocational advice from physiotherapists (participants with low/medium-risk for long-term sickness absence were offered one to two sessions, and those with high-risk were offered three to four sessions).

RESULTS: Median sickness absence was 62 days, (95% CI 52 to 71) in the UC arm (n=171), 56 days (95% CI 43 to 70) in the UC+MI arm (n=169) and 49 days (95% CI 38 to 60) in the UC+SVAI arm (n=169). After adjusting for predefined potential confounding factors, the results showed seven fewer days in the UC+MI arm (95% CI -15 to 2) and the UC+SVAI arm (95% CI -16 to 1), compared with the UC arm. The adjusted differences were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: The MI-NAV trial did not show effect on return to work of adding MI or SVAI to UC. The reduction in sickness absence over 6 months was smaller than anticipated, and uncertain due to wide CIs.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03871712.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)42-50
Number of pages9
JournalOccupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume80
Issue number1
Early online date25 Nov 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Author(s). Published by BMJ.

Keywords

  • Musculoskeletal System
  • Occupational Health
  • Rehabilitation
  • Sick Leave

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effectiveness of adding motivational interviewing or a stratified vocational advice intervention to usual case management on return to work for people with musculoskeletal disorders: the MI-NAV randomised controlled trial'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this