Long-term effects on function, health-related quality of life and work ability after structured physiotherapy including a workplace intervention. A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial (WorkUp) in primary care for patients with neck and/or back pain

Figures & data

Table 1. Baseline data for patients included in WorkUp, n = 352.^a

	Reference group (n = 206)		Intervention group (n = 146)
	n	%	n	%
Men	68	33.0	54	37.0
Women	138	67.0	92	63.0
Age (mean, SD)	43.7	12.6	43.8	11.7
Marital status
Married/cohabitation	157	77.0	112	76.7
Single	47	22.8	34	23.3
Missing	2
Education
Primary school	14	6.8	16	11.0
Upper sec school 2–3 years	107	51.9	69	47.3
University ≥3 years	49	23.8	28	19.2
Other	35	16.9	33	22.6
Born in Sweden
Yes	173	84.0	132	90.4
No	32	15.5	14	9.6
Missing	1
Diagnoses
Cervicobrachial syndrome^b	49	23.8	27	18.5
Cervical and lumbar syndrome^c	12	5.8	9	6.2
Lumbago-ischias^d	140	68.0	102	69.9
Myalgia^e	5	2.4	8	5.5
Employed
Yes	194	94.6	142	97.3
No	11	5.4	4	2.7
Missing	1
Sick leave
Yes	74	35.9	51	34.9
If yes, 100% sick leave	62	83.8	40	78.4
Missing	1		2
Anxiety and depression (HADS 0-21 p)
HADS-A <8 points and HADS-D <8 p	128	62.1	95	65.1
HADS-A ≥8 points or HADS-D ≥8 p	48	23.3	40	27.4
HADS-A ≥8 points and HADS-D ≥8 p	29	14.1	10	6.8
Missing	1		1
Exhaustion (s-ED)
Yes	54	26.2	38	26
If yes, moderate s-ED	28	13.6	25	17.1
If yes, pronounced s-ED	26	12.6	13	8.9
Missing	11		10

HADS: hospital anxiety and depression scale; HADS-A: Anxiety subscale of HADS;

HADS-D: Depression subscale of HADS; s-ED: self-rating of stress-related exhaustion disorder.

^a The numbers are frequencies (percentages) unless stated otherwise.

^b M530, M531 and M542.

^c Combination of cervicobrachial syndrome and lumbago-ischias.

^d M543, M544, M545 and M546.

^e M791.

Table 2. The mean difference in function, HRQoL and work ability between the intervention and the reference group.^a

	Unadjusted	Adjusted^b	Adjusted^b + HADS	Adjusted^b + Exhaustion
	Mean difference [95% CI]	Mean difference [95% CI]	Mean difference [95% CI]	Mean difference [95% CI]
Function (FRI)
3 months follow-up	−2.17 [−4.42,0.09]	0.28 [−1.80,2.36]	0.37 [−1.64,2.39]	−0.36 [−2.51,1.78]
6 months follow-up	2.16 [−0.83,5.16]	−0.42 [−2.02,1.18]	−0.42 [−2.02,1.19]	−0.06 [−1.71,1.58]
12 months follow-up	1.97 [−1.08,5.02]	−0.76 [−2.39,0.88]	−0.77 [−2.41,0.87]	−0.55 [−2.23,1.14]
HRQoL (EQ-5D)
3 months follow-up	−0.05 [−0.11,0.02]	−0.05 [−0.11,0.01]	−0.05 [−0.11,0.01]	−0.05 [−0.11,0.02]
6 months follow-up	−0.00 [−0.06,0.06]	−0.01 [−0.07,0.06]	−0.01 [−0.07,0.06]	−0.02 [−0.08,0.05]
12 months follow-up	0.02 [−0.04,0.08]	0.02 [−0.04,0.08]	0.02 [−0.04,0.08]	0.01 [−0.05,0.08]
Work ability (WAS)
3 months follow-up	−0.66 [−1.23, −0.08]	−0.69 [−1.26, −0.11]	−0.68 [−1.26, −0.11]	−0.66 [−1.25, −0.07]
6 months follow-up	−0.23 [−0.80,0.34]	−0.27 [−0.84,0.30]	−0.27 [−0.84,0.30]	−0.35 [-0.94,0.23]
12 months follow-up	−0.01 [−0.58,0.57]	−0.05 [−0.63,0.53]	−0.04 [−0.62,0.54]	−0.15 [−0.74,0.45]

^a The differences are presented at three, six and 12 months, respectively.

^b Adjusted for age, sex, if on sick leave at baseline and the baseline value of the outcome. HADS: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; Exhaustion: self-rating of stress-related exhaustion disorder (s-ED); HRQoL: health-related quality of life; FRI: Functional Rating Index (0 to 100% disability); EQ-5D: EuroQol five-dimension (−0.594 to 1.0 where 1 correspond to full health); WAS: work ability score (0 to 10 from 0 representing ‘cannot work at all right now’ to 10 representing ‘my work ability as at its best right now’).

Figure 1. Mean outcome per treatment group over follow-up time with 95% confidence interval estimated by the regression model regarding function as measured by FRI.

Figure 2. Mean outcome per treatment group over follow-up time with 95% confidence interval estimated by the regression model regarding health-related quality of life as measured by EQ-5D.

Figure 3. Mean outcome per treatment group over follow-up time with 95% confidence interval estimated by the regression model regarding work ability as measured by work ability score (WAS).