RESUMEN
PURPOSE: There is little representative evidence for the German rehabilitation system on occupational reintegration after medical rehabilitation. For persons who have undergone rehabilitation on behalf of the German Pension Insurance (GPI) due to a neurological disease, it is therefore important to determine (a) what socio-medical risks exist prior to rehabilitation, (b) how well persons were able to participate in working life after rehabilitation, and (c) what conditions determine the work participation. METHODS: The study is conducted on the basis of the GPI's database of rehabilitation statistics. Included were all persons, who completed medical rehabilitation in 2016 due to a neurological disease. The analyses were carried out for the entire group and also in a differentiated manner for the 2 main diseases, cerebrovascular diseases (CD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Work participation was operationalized both via a monthly status variable until 24 months after rehabilitation and as a rate of all persons who were employed at the 12 and 24 months follow up and in the 3 months before, respectively. To analyse the factors influencing stable work participation, multiple logistic regression models with stepwise inclusion were calculated separately for the rates after 12 and 24 months. RESULTS: A total of 42,230 data sets were included in the analysis (CD: n=18,368, 44%; MS: n=6,343, 15%). Patients with neurological diseases were 50 years old on average, 43% were female. We found that approximately15% of patients reported no absenteeism, whereas 17% stated an absence leave of six months or more in the year prior to rehabilitation. Mental and cardiovascular comorbidity was documented in 31 and 44% of the cases respectively. Nearly 48% of patients with CD returned to work two years after rehabilitation. For MS patients, the percentage was slightly higher at 54%. The amount of sick leave of the rehabilitated individual, their gross/net income prior to rehabilitation as well their work capacity prior to admission were the three strongest influencing factors on their return to the labour market. CONCLUSION: About half of all persons with neurological diseases return to sustainable work after medical rehabilitation in Germany. The amount of sick leave and the income before rehabilitation are determining factors as to whether the person will return to work. The analysis provides representative data on occupational reintegration after medical rehabilitation due to a neurological disease for the first time.
