Expert@Work - Effectiveness of a Digital Expert Team on Return to Work

Mental Disorder Clinical Trial

— Expert@Work  

Official title:

Expert@Work - Effectiveness of a Digital Expert Team on Return to Work

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05575908
• Other study ID #: 2021/11991
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 13, 2022
• Est. completion date: September 2026

Study information

• Verified date: November 2023
• Source: St. Olavs Hospital
• Contact: Gunn Hege Marchand, PhD
• Phone: +4772822337
• Email: gunn.hege.marchand[@]ntnu.no
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Long-term sick leave is a challenge in Norway, and the healthcare and labor- and welfare services are often not coordinated in helping the sick-listed employees return to work. In this study, the investigators want to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention where an expert team provides advice for an individualized patient pathway based on information from a digital questionnaire and a video meeting with the sick-listed employee and the participant's general practitioner. The patient pathway should include both healthcare and labor- and welfare services measures.

Sick-listed patients with musculoskeletal- and/or common mental disorders are invited to join the study. They will receive a digital questionnaire and be randomized to either treatment as usual or personalized advice from an expert team. The team will be put together based on the response from the individual's questionnaire.

The investigators will evaluate the effect on return to work and the use of health care services 12 months after the intervention.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 170
• Est. completion date: September 2026
• Est. primary completion date: October 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Sick-listed minimum 50% between 11 and 20 weeks

• Musculoskeletal disorder and/or common mental disorder

• Living in the county of Trøndelag or Møre- og Romsdal

Exclusion Criteria:

• Specific conditions such as fracture, trauma, infections, malignancy, dislocations, etc.

• Serious mental conditions or another serious disease that makes participation difficult

• Most likely to return to work within 2 weeks

• Not speaking/reading Norwegian

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Mental Disorder
• Mental Disorders
• Musculoskeletal Diseases

Intervention

Procedure:
• Digital expert team
A digital team will be appointed based on the participant's answers in the digital screening questionnaire. Members of the team can be specialists in Physical and rehabilitation medicine, psychologist, physiotherapist, social workers, and consultants in the labor- and welfare administration. The general practitioner will also be invited to the meeting.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Norway	Ålesund sjukehus	Ålesund	Midt-Norge
Norway	Sykehuset Levanger	Levanger	Midt-Norge
Norway	Molde Sjukehus	Molde	Midt-Norge
Norway	St. Olavs hospital HF	Trondheim	Midt-Norge

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
St. Olavs Hospital	Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Norway, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Sleep quality and insomnia	Prevalence of insomnia and bad sleep quality and change after 12 months. Measured with Insomnia severity index (ISI). ISI is scored on a range from 0-4, with higher score indicating more serious symptoms.	12 months
Primary	Return to work	Time to return to work within 12 months for at least 4 consecutive weeks	12 months
Secondary	Function	Approvement in function measured by Versus Arthritis Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ). The MSK-HQ is scored on a range of 0-56, with a better score indicating better MSK-HQ health status	12 months
Secondary	Change in pain	Change in pain measured on a numeric rating scale (0-10), with a higher score indicating more pain	12 months
Secondary	Change in depression symptoms	Improvement in depression symptoms measured by Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). PHQ-9 is scored on a range of 0-27, with higher score indicating more serious symptoms	12 months
Secondary	Change in anxiety symptoms	Improvement in anxiety symptoms measured by Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7). GAD-7 is scored on a range of 0-21, with higher score indicating more serious symptoms	12 months
Secondary	Days lost from work	Lost workdays during one year after intervention	12 months