Introduction Workers worry during prolonged work disability, but do their worries relate to their actual work disability situation?

Objective The aim of this study was to assess worries and their maintaining factors, while considering the margin of maneuver/leeway at work and their impact on return to work (RTW).

Methods We conducted a cohort study with a convenience sample of 79 (39 men and 40 women) workers having persistent (≥3 months) work-related musculoskeletal disorders causing absence from their regular work. Following Dugas’ theory validated self-administered questionnaires (ex.: intolerance of uncertainty, utility of worrying) were completed at the beginning and the end of the work rehabilitation program. Also, the questionnaire on type of worries (QTW) assessed specific types of worries and their relationship to work. Trained occupational therapists, (n = 16) evaluated the margin of maneuver of all workers. Multivariate analyses were performed on RTW predicted by workers’ indicators and occupational therapists’ margin of maneuver.

Twenty-one workers did not RTW The model predicted 54% of the variance in N-RTW (p .0001). Significant factors explaining N-RTW were: lack of a margin of maneuver (OR = 8.5; p = .008); high intolerance for uncertainties (OR = 1.12; p = .01), perceived utility of worrying (OR = 1.11; p .001), and for the QTW scores, a high mean intensity of worries (OR = 2; p = .004) emerging from actual situations (OR = 17.15; p = .02) occurring at work (OR = 8.5). A posthoc analysis (pseudo R2 = .33; p = ) shows that a lack of a margin of maneuver is associated with QTW scores of worries emerging from uncertainties at work.

Conclusion Workers not returning to work worry about actual situations at work, but this is also associated with low margin of maneuver, assessed by occupational therapists. Thus, RTW interventions should focus on the work environment.