An assessment of work ability after the completion of rehabilitation as part of disability pension prevention of the Social Insurance Institution among people with chronic musculoskeletal diseases

Abstract

Background The increasing number of people receiving benefits due to incapacity for work is a heavy burden for the state budget. In order to reduce the scale of this phenomenon, the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) carries out a rehabilitation program as part of disability pension prevention. Material and Methods The study was based on the analysis of medical documentation of 607 patients rehabilitated at the Saint Queen Jadwiga’s Regional Clinical Hospital No. 2 in Rzeszow, as part of the ZUS prevention of disability pension program in 2011−2013. Medical documentation included the medical history and results of the Functional Test recommended by ZUS. Two years after the completion of rehabilitation, a telephone check was conducted among 118 rehabilitated patients to assess their occupational status. Results The analysis of the Functional Test documentation showed that in all groups of wykorzystująpatients included in the rehabilitation program, as well as those among whom the control was carried out, the majority were people with post-exercise pain, full physical fitness, slight mobility limitation, full efficiency in everyday activities, correct strength of muscles and moving abilities, as well as normal psychosocial efficiency. The vast majority of them received a recommendation regarding work in a properly-adjusted position. It was shown that in the 2-year observation period, the percentage of professionally active people increased from 56% to 61.02%. Conclusions The most important factors determining the return to work include psychosocial efficiency and the level of pain. Med Pr. 2019;70(4):459–73

Keywords

• rehabilitation
• chronic diseases
• employment
• prevention
• incapacity for work
• Social Insurance Institution