Early structured communication between general practitioner, sick-listed patient, and employer: Results and lessons learned from a pragmatic trial in the Capacity Note project.

Background and objective: Early and collaborative interventions are desirable to prevent long-term sick leave and promote sustainable return-to-work (RTW). The aim of this study was to evaluate if the use of the Capacity Note - a brief intervention promoting early and structured communication between general practitioners (GPs), patients, and employers - had an impact on length of sick leave in patients with common mental disorders (CMDs) in primary healthcare.

Method: In a pragmatic trial, GPs at eight primary healthcare centres were randomized to provide the intervention or control and recruited eligible patients: employed women and men, 18-64 years, who visited a GP due to CMD and became or were (<4 months) full- or part-time sick-listed. Patients in the intervention group (n=28) used the Capacity Note in addition to usual care. Patients in the control group (n=28) received usual care. Outcomes of interest were time until full RTW, sick leave status at end of follow-up (17 months), number of sick leave episodes during follow-up, and number of sick leave days at 6, 12, and 17 months of follow-up.

Results: The proportion of patients with full RTW at the end of follow-up was 79.2% in the intervention group and 84.6% in the control group. Time until full RTW was 102 and 90 days (median) in intervention and control group, respectively. We found no statistically significant differences between the groups for any of the outcomes.

Discussion: Despite efforts to increase the number of participants, the study ended up with a small sample. This prohibited us from drawing any final conclusions about the effect of the intervention. Obstacles to recruitment of patients and use of the intervention are discussed.