Return to work within a year after first stroke: blue and white collar workers comparison, predictors and causal mediation assessed during inpatient rehabilitation.

Background: Most research focuses around impairments in body function and structure, with relatively only a small number exploring their social impact.

Objectives: 1) compare characteristics for individuals who before stroke were blue collar vs. white collar workers 2) identify clinical, functional, and job-related factors associated with return to work within 1 year after discharge 3) identify specific ADL individual items (assessed at rehabilitation discharge) as return to work predictors and 4) identify return to work causal mediators.

Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study, analyzing adult patients with stroke admitted to rehabilitation between 2007 and 2021, including baseline Barthel Index (BI) and return to work assessments between 2008 and 2022. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards were applied. Causal mediation analyses using 1000-bootstrapped simulations were performed.

Results: A total of 802 individuals were included (14.6% returned to work), 53.6% blue-collar and 46.4% white-collar. Blue-collar workers showed significantly higher proportion of ischemic stroke, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.Individuals not returning to work presented a higher proportion of blue collar, dominant side affected, aphasia, lower BI scores, and larger length of stay (LOS). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards identified age at injury, aphasia, hypertension, and total discharge BI score (C-Index = 0.74). Univariable Cox models identified three independent BI items at all levels of independence: bathing (C-Index = 0.58), grooming (C-Index = 0.56) and feeding (C-Index = 0.59). BI efficiency (gain/LOS) was a causal mediator.

Conclusion: Blue collar workers showed higher proportion of risk factors and comorbidities. Novel factors, predictors, and a return to work mediator were identified.