Effect of Cognitive Behavioural Stress Management on Return-to-Work Amongst Sick-Listed Employees

Charlotte Brøgger Bond; Morten Vejs Willert; Daniel Navy Ditlevsen; Louise Fleng Sandal; Lars Brandt

doi:10.1007/s10926-025-10306-2

Effect of Cognitive Behavioural Stress Management on Return-to-Work Amongst Sick-Listed Employees

Bidragets oversatte titel: Effekt af kognitiv adfærdsterapeutisk stresshåndtering på tilbagevenden til arbejde blandt sygemeldte medarbejdere

Charlotte Brøgger Bond^*
, Morten Vejs Willert
, Daniel Navy Ditlevsen
, Louise Fleng Sandal
, Lars Brandt

^*Kontaktforfatter

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

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Abstract

Resumé
Baggrund
Litteraturen indeholder modstridende oplysninger om effekten af kognitiv adfærdsterapi (KAT) på tilbagevenden til arbejde (RTW) for patienter sygemeldt på grund af arbejdsrelateret stress.

Formål
Vi sammenlignede det kumulative antal ugers sygefravær mellem en kohorte af patienter, der modtog en KAT-baseret stresshåndteringsintervention i perioden 2011–2018 (N=331), og en kohorte fra 2010 til 2011 (N=221), som ikke modtog interventionen. Vi sammenlignede også tiden indtil varig tilbagevenden til arbejde (defineret som 3 sammenhængende måneder uden sygeregistreringer) mellem de to kohorter.

Metoder
Registerdata om sygefravær blev indhentet fra det nationale DREAM-register (Danmarks Register for Offentlige Overførsler). Den kumulative tid med registreret sygefravær i DREAM indtil første varige periode med RTW blev visualiseret ved hjælp af Kaplan–Meier-kurver. En Cox proportional hazards-model blev anvendt til at sammenligne interventionens effektivitet med kontrolkohorten og blev rapporteret som hazard rate ratio.

Resultater
Interventionskohortens kumulative antal uger i DREAM over perioden 0 til 36 måneder (median 29, spændvidde 26–32) var lavere end for sammenligningskohorten (median 40, spændvidde 34–52), (P=0,005), svarende til en reduktion på 14 % (95 % CI 0,04–0,24). For RTW blev der fundet en hazard rate ratio på 1,25 (95 % CI 1,02–1,54) til fordel for interventionsgruppen (P=0,034).

Konklusion
Den KAT-baserede stresshåndteringsintervention reducerede signifikant mængden af sygefravær og forkortede tiden til varig tilbagevenden til arbejde for interventionskohorten sammenlignet med sammenligningskohorten.

Bidragets oversatte titel	Effekt af kognitiv adfærdsterapeutisk stresshåndtering på tilbagevenden til arbejde blandt sygemeldte medarbejdere
Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
ISSN	1053-0487
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-025-10306-2
Status	E-pub ahead of print - 25. jun. 2025

Finansiering

Open access funding provided by University of Southern Denmark. The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

Emneord

CBT
RTW
sick leave
Stress management
job

Dokumenter og links

10.1007/s10926-025-10306-2Licens: CC BY

Open access versionForlagets udgivne version, 545 KBLicens: CC BY

SDU link

Tjek adgangen til materialet i Syddansk Universitetsbiblioteks søgemaskine

Citationsformater

@article{4ebb8ce832894ec888dd85d41834fc54,

title = "Effect of Cognitive Behavioural Stress Management on Return-to-Work Amongst Sick-Listed Employees",

abstract = "Background: The literature provides contradictory information on the effect of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions on return to work (RTW) for patients on sick leave due to work-related stress. Aim: We compared the cumulative number of sick leave weeks between a cohort of patients who received a CBT-based stress management intervention in the period 2011–2018 (N = 331) and a cohort of patients from 2010 to 2011 (N = 221) who did not receive the intervention. We also compared time until sustainable RTW (3 consecutive months of no sick registrations) between the cohorts. Methods: Registry data on sickness absence were obtained from the national DREAM register (Danish Public Transfer Payments Database). The cumulative time of registered sick leave in DREAM until first sustainable period of RTW was visualized using Kaplan–Meier plots. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare the effectiveness of the intervention relative to the comparison cohort and was reported as hazard rate ratio. Results: The intervention cohort{\textquoteright}s cumulated number of weeks in DREAM across the total period from 0 to 36 months (median 29 range 26–32) was lower than that of the comparison cohort (median 40 range 34–52), (P = 0.005), corresponding to a 14\% (95\% CI 0.04–0.24) reduction. For RTW, a hazard ratio rate of 1.25 (95\% CI 1.02–1.54) favouring the intervention group was found (P = 0.034). Conclusion: The CBT stress management intervention significantly reduced the amount of sick leave and reduced the time until sustainable RTW for the intervention cohort compared to the comparison cohort.",

keywords = "CBT, RTW, sick leave, Stress management, job",

author = "Bond, \{Charlotte Br{\o}gger\} and Willert, \{Morten Vejs\} and Ditlevsen, \{Daniel Navy\} and Sandal, \{Louise Fleng\} and Lars Brandt",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1007/s10926-025-10306-2",

language = "English",

journal = "Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation",

issn = "1053-0487",

publisher = "Springer",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of Cognitive Behavioural Stress Management on Return-to-Work Amongst Sick-Listed Employees

AU - Bond, Charlotte Brøgger

AU - Willert, Morten Vejs

AU - Ditlevsen, Daniel Navy

AU - Sandal, Louise Fleng

AU - Brandt, Lars

PY - 2025/6/25

Y1 - 2025/6/25

N2 - Background: The literature provides contradictory information on the effect of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions on return to work (RTW) for patients on sick leave due to work-related stress. Aim: We compared the cumulative number of sick leave weeks between a cohort of patients who received a CBT-based stress management intervention in the period 2011–2018 (N = 331) and a cohort of patients from 2010 to 2011 (N = 221) who did not receive the intervention. We also compared time until sustainable RTW (3 consecutive months of no sick registrations) between the cohorts. Methods: Registry data on sickness absence were obtained from the national DREAM register (Danish Public Transfer Payments Database). The cumulative time of registered sick leave in DREAM until first sustainable period of RTW was visualized using Kaplan–Meier plots. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare the effectiveness of the intervention relative to the comparison cohort and was reported as hazard rate ratio. Results: The intervention cohort’s cumulated number of weeks in DREAM across the total period from 0 to 36 months (median 29 range 26–32) was lower than that of the comparison cohort (median 40 range 34–52), (P = 0.005), corresponding to a 14% (95% CI 0.04–0.24) reduction. For RTW, a hazard ratio rate of 1.25 (95% CI 1.02–1.54) favouring the intervention group was found (P = 0.034). Conclusion: The CBT stress management intervention significantly reduced the amount of sick leave and reduced the time until sustainable RTW for the intervention cohort compared to the comparison cohort.

AB - Background: The literature provides contradictory information on the effect of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions on return to work (RTW) for patients on sick leave due to work-related stress. Aim: We compared the cumulative number of sick leave weeks between a cohort of patients who received a CBT-based stress management intervention in the period 2011–2018 (N = 331) and a cohort of patients from 2010 to 2011 (N = 221) who did not receive the intervention. We also compared time until sustainable RTW (3 consecutive months of no sick registrations) between the cohorts. Methods: Registry data on sickness absence were obtained from the national DREAM register (Danish Public Transfer Payments Database). The cumulative time of registered sick leave in DREAM until first sustainable period of RTW was visualized using Kaplan–Meier plots. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare the effectiveness of the intervention relative to the comparison cohort and was reported as hazard rate ratio. Results: The intervention cohort’s cumulated number of weeks in DREAM across the total period from 0 to 36 months (median 29 range 26–32) was lower than that of the comparison cohort (median 40 range 34–52), (P = 0.005), corresponding to a 14% (95% CI 0.04–0.24) reduction. For RTW, a hazard ratio rate of 1.25 (95% CI 1.02–1.54) favouring the intervention group was found (P = 0.034). Conclusion: The CBT stress management intervention significantly reduced the amount of sick leave and reduced the time until sustainable RTW for the intervention cohort compared to the comparison cohort.

KW - CBT

KW - RTW

KW - sick leave

KW - Stress management

KW - job

U2 - 10.1007/s10926-025-10306-2

DO - 10.1007/s10926-025-10306-2

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 40560356

SN - 1053-0487

JO - Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation

JF - Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation

ER -

Effect of Cognitive Behavioural Stress Management on Return-to-Work Amongst Sick-Listed Employees

Abstract

Finansiering

Emneord

Dokumenter og links

SDU link

Fingeraftryk

Citationsformater