[Predicting long-term disability after one year for claimants with psychological disorders applying for vocational disability]. / Vorhersage der Berufsunfähigkeit nach einem Jahr bei BU-Antragstellern mit psychischen Erkrankungen.

There is a growing amount of research on predicting the outcome of illnesses, return to work and early retirement. Up to now, these general findings have not been examined for claimants of vocational disability in the context of a private life insurance in Germany ("Private Berufsunfähigkeit" = BU). In this prospective study we tested general outcome variables for psychosomatic illnesses, when applying for a disability pension, to predict vocational disability after one year as defined by private life insurance (BU) in Germany. The results are consistent with the research generated in similar insurance fields, highlighting the relevance of the variables: Age, subjective appraisal of the vocational and health perspective in the following year, the amount of attempts to prevent disability (number of inpatient treatments) and motivational aspects like the extent of commitment. These variables were then used to compose a first screening questionnaire to predict vocational disability at an early stage of the claims process.

[The use of credibility criteria in the assessment of somatoform disorders]. / Zur Anwendung von Glaubhaftigkeitskriterien in der Begutachtung somatoformer Störungen.

The assessment of psychosomatic illnesses in the context of insurance claims relies to a large extent on self-reports from the claimant. The objectivity of these self-reports is reduced, however, due to disorder-related distorsions and the claims situation. The article provides an overview of the criteria-based content analysis used for judging the credibility of self-reports. This method is already used in the field of forensic psychology. A criteria-based content analysis may also help the medical experts to differentiate between true and false reports and allow them to justify their assessment using empirically validated criteria.

[Medical assessment of psychosomatic illnesses in the field of short-term disability compensation insurance: advantages of a multidimensional structured guideline]. / Begutachtung von psychosomatischen Erkrankungen in der Krankentagegeld- versicherung: Vorteile eines multidimensionalen Begutachtungsleitfadens.

The aim of the medical report in the area of short-term disability claims caused by psychological and psychosomatic disorders is to make a valid prognosis on the further development of absenteeism and/or to estimate the return-to-work probability of the claimant. An analysis of the current practice of determining the validity of claims caused by psychosomatic illnesses shows that it is inadequate and unsatisfactory, mainly as a result of its reliance on a cross-sectional based judgement. The authors present a structured guideline (Multi-Axial-Psychodiagnostic for short-term disability claims, MAP-KTG), which supports, via a multi-dimensional diagnosis process, the validation of the psychological and psychosomatic symptoms of the claimant. It is also used to assess the amount of functional disability with a higher degree of accuracy. The determination of the prognosis, with regard to future work prospects, can be obtained by applying a list of empirically generated variables proven to be associated with the return-to-work probability.