PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Denise Kendrick AU - Yana Vinogradova AU - Carol Coupland AU - Nicola Christie AU - Ronan A Lyons AU - Elizabeth Towner ED - , TI - Making a successful return to work: the UK burden of injury multicentre longitudinal study AID - 10.3399/bjgp12X625139 DP - 2012 Feb 01 TA - British Journal of General Practice PG - e82--e90 VI - 62 IP - 595 4099 - http://bjgp.org/content/62/595/e82.short 4100 - http://bjgp.org/content/62/595/e82.full SO - Br J Gen Pract2012 Feb 01; 62 AB - Background Injuries are common and make a significant contribution to sickness absence, but little is known about problems experienced by injured people on return to work (RTW).Aim To quantify work problems on RTW and explore predictors of such problems.Design & setting Multicentre longitudinal study in four UK hospitals.Method Prospective study of injured participants aged 16–65 years who were employed or self-employed prior to the injury and had RTW at 1 or 4 months post injury.Results At 1 month, most (59%) had only made a partial RTW. By 4 months, 80% had fully RTW. Those who had partially RTW had problems related to physical tasks (work limited for median of 25% of time at 1 month, 18% at 4 months), time management (10% at 1 month, 20% at 4 months) and output demands (10% at 1 month, 15% at 4 months). Productivity losses were significantly greater among those with partial than full RTW at 1 month (median 3.3% versus 0.9%, P<0.001) and 4 months (median 4.6% versus 1.1% P = 0.03). Moderate/severe injuries (relative risk [RR] 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.35 to 2.77) and sports injuries (RR 1.73, 95% CI = 1.12 to 2.67) were associated with significantly greater productivity losses at 1 month while pre-existing long-term illnesses (RR 2.12, 95% CI = 1.38 to 3.27) and upper limb injuries (RR 1.64, 95% CI = 1.06 to 2.53) were at 4 months.Conclusion Injuries impact on successful RTW for at least 4 months. Those who have only partially RTW experience the most problems and GPs should pay particular attention to identifying work problems in this group and ways of minimising such problems.