Which outcomes should always be measured in intervention studies for improving work participation for people with a health problem? An international multistakeholder Delphi study to develop a core outcome set for Work participation (COS for Work)

Ravinskaya, Margarita; Verbeek, Jos; Langendam, Miranda; Madan, Ira; Verstappen, Suzanne M.M.; Kunz, Regina; Hulshof, Carel T.J.; Hoving, Jan L.

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069174

Which outcomes should always be measured in intervention studies for improving work participation for people with a health problem? An international multistakeholder Delphi study to develop a core outcome set for Work participation (COS for Work)

Ravinskaya, Margarita; Verbeek, Jos; Langendam, Miranda; Madan, Ira; Verstappen, Suzanne M.M.; Kunz, Regina; Hulshof, Carel T.J.; Hoving, Jan L.

Authors

Margarita Ravinskaya

Jos Verbeek

Miranda Langendam

Ira Madan

Suzanne M.M. Verstappen

Regina Kunz

Carel T.J. Hulshof

Jan L. Hoving

Contributors

Lene Aasdahl
Other

Johannes Anema
Other

Debbie Berkowitz
Other

Matthias Bethge
Other

Jonas Bühler
Other

Ute Bültmann
Other

Petri Böckerman
Other

Trevor Coons
Other

Stefania Curti
Other

Caroline Crosse
Other

Angela de Boer
Other

Diana Dorstyn
Other

Nadine Foster
Other

Emilie Friberg
Other

Jean Francois Gehanno
Other

Lode Godderis
Other

Nicola Goodson
Other

Christine Graveline
Other

Douglas Gross
Other

Karen Walseth Hara
Other

Timo Hannu
Other

Andreas Hoff
Other

Gunnel Hensing
Other

Janice Hegewald
Other

Alexander Hoorntje
Other

Svenja Janssen
Other

Diane Lacaille
Other

Raymond Lam
Other

Paul Landsbergis
Other

Maria Luiza Comper
Other

Per Lytsy
Other

Gary Macfarlane
Other

Steve Mantis
Other

Kohle Merry
Other

Alysha Meyers
Other

Subas Neupane
Other

Clas-Hakan Nygård
Other

Irene Larsen Oyeflaten
Other

Shyam Pingle
Other

Prof Yeliz Prior Y.Prior@salford.ac.uk
Other

Frederieke Schaafsma
Other

Abstract

Objective Synthesising evidence of the effects of interventions to improve work participation among people with health problems is currently difficult due to heterogeneity in outcome measurements. A core outcome set for work participation is needed.

Study design and setting Following the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials methodology, we used a five-step approach to reach international multistakeholder consensus on a core outcome set for work participation. Five subgroups of stakeholders took part in two rounds of discussions and completed two Delphi voting rounds on 26 outcomes. A consensus of ≥80% determined core outcomes and 50%–80% consensus was required for candidate outcomes.

Results Fifty-eight stakeholders took part in the Delphi rounds. Core outcomes were: ‘any type of employment including self-employment’, ‘proportion of workers that return to work after being absent because of illness’ and ‘time to return to work’. Ten candidate outcomes were proposed, among others: ‘sustainable employment’, ‘work productivity’ and ‘workers’ perception of return to work’.

Conclusion As a minimum, all studies evaluating the impact of interventions on work participation should include one employment outcome and two return to work outcomes if workers are on sick leave prior to the intervention.

Citation

Ravinskaya, M., Verbeek, J., Langendam, M., Madan, I., Verstappen, S. M., Kunz, R., …Hoving, J. L. (2023). Which outcomes should always be measured in intervention studies for improving work participation for people with a health problem? An international multistakeholder Delphi study to develop a core outcome set for Work participation (COS for Work). BMJ Open, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069174

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 2, 2023
Publication Date	Feb 15, 2023
Deposit Date	Aug 2, 2023
Publicly Available Date	Aug 2, 2023
Journal	BMJ Open
Publisher	BMJ Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069174