Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts
OBJECTIVES: It is unclear to what extent assessments of work ability differ between disability claimants, their treating physicians, and multidisciplinary medical expert teams. METHODS: We compared assessments of work ability for consecutive disability claimants referred to a multidisciplinary asses...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)
2014-09-01
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| Series: | Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
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| Online Access: |
https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3440
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| _version_ | 1818925138444288000 |
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| author | Salome Dell-Kuster Simon Lauper Joerg Koehler Johanna Zwimpfer Benedikt Altermatt Tibor Zwimpfer Leon Zwimpfer Jim Young Heiner C Bucher Alain J Nordmann |
| author_facet | Salome Dell-Kuster Simon Lauper Joerg Koehler Johanna Zwimpfer Benedikt Altermatt Tibor Zwimpfer Leon Zwimpfer Jim Young Heiner C Bucher Alain J Nordmann |
| author_sort | Salome Dell-Kuster |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVES: It is unclear to what extent assessments of work ability differ between disability claimants, their treating physicians, and multidisciplinary medical expert teams. METHODS: We compared assessments of work ability for consecutive disability claimants referred to a multidisciplinary assessment center in Switzerland over a 4-year period. Assessments were made for the last job (LJ) prior to claiming a disability benefit and an alternative job (AJ) thought to suit the claimant’s physical and mental abilities. Mean differences (MD) in percentage work ability between assessments from claimants, physicians, and experts were then estimated in a linear regression model. RESULTS: The 3562 claims made during the study period were mostly due to musculoskeletal and depressive disorders. Assessments differed little between claimants and physicians [LJ MD 1.3% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.5–2.2%); AJ MD 11% (95% CI 10–12%)]. Experts on average assessed a claimant’s work ability higher than either the claimant or physician, particularly in the AJ [MD between expert and claimant 57% (95% CI 56–58%) and between expert and physician 46% (95% CI 45–48%)]. CONCLUSIONS: Assessments of work ability differed substantially between experts in multidisciplinary medical teams and both claimants and their treating physicians. A careful evaluation of the disability assessment process is needed in an effort to reduce disagreement between expert teams and treating physicians and so improve acceptance of the process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T02:36:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b79931ffec044df86b9b3b3711ad13d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0355-3140 1795-990X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T02:36:27Z |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b79931ffec044df86b9b3b3711ad13d2022-12-21T19:56:26ZengNordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health0355-31401795-990X2014-09-0140549350110.5271/sjweh.34403440Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical expertsSalome Dell-KusterSimon LauperJoerg KoehlerJohanna ZwimpferBenedikt AltermattTibor ZwimpferLeon ZwimpferJim YoungHeiner C BucherAlain J Nordmann0Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Hospital Basel, Hebelstrasse 10, CH – 4051 Basel, Switzerland.OBJECTIVES: It is unclear to what extent assessments of work ability differ between disability claimants, their treating physicians, and multidisciplinary medical expert teams. METHODS: We compared assessments of work ability for consecutive disability claimants referred to a multidisciplinary assessment center in Switzerland over a 4-year period. Assessments were made for the last job (LJ) prior to claiming a disability benefit and an alternative job (AJ) thought to suit the claimant’s physical and mental abilities. Mean differences (MD) in percentage work ability between assessments from claimants, physicians, and experts were then estimated in a linear regression model. RESULTS: The 3562 claims made during the study period were mostly due to musculoskeletal and depressive disorders. Assessments differed little between claimants and physicians [LJ MD 1.3% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.5–2.2%); AJ MD 11% (95% CI 10–12%)]. Experts on average assessed a claimant’s work ability higher than either the claimant or physician, particularly in the AJ [MD between expert and claimant 57% (95% CI 56–58%) and between expert and physician 46% (95% CI 45–48%)]. CONCLUSIONS: Assessments of work ability differed substantially between experts in multidisciplinary medical teams and both claimants and their treating physicians. A careful evaluation of the disability assessment process is needed in an effort to reduce disagreement between expert teams and treating physicians and so improve acceptance of the process. https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3440 cross-sectional studywork abilitydisabilityphysiciandisability pensioninterrater agreementdisability claimantmedical expertclaimantdisability insurance claimdisagreementpercentage work ability |
| spellingShingle | Salome Dell-Kuster Simon Lauper Joerg Koehler Johanna Zwimpfer Benedikt Altermatt Tibor Zwimpfer Leon Zwimpfer Jim Young Heiner C Bucher Alain J Nordmann Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health cross-sectional study work ability disability physician disability pension interrater agreement disability claimant medical expert claimant disability insurance claim disagreement percentage work ability |
| title | Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts |
| title_full | Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts |
| title_fullStr | Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts |
| title_short | Assessing work ability – a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts |
| title_sort | assessing work ability a cross sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants treating physicians and medical experts |
| topic | cross-sectional study work ability disability physician disability pension interrater agreement disability claimant medical expert claimant disability insurance claim disagreement percentage work ability |
| url |
https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3440
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