Internet-based rehabilitation for individuals with chronic pain and burnout II: a long-term follow-up

Abstract

This study is a long-term follow-up of a previously published study that used the internet in the rehabilitation of people on long-term sick leave owing to chronic pain and/or burnout. The follow-up was to assess the effects over time of this kind of rehabilitation. The goals of the first study were to improve the participants' health and work capacity. Sixty people were randomly assigned to either a treatment or a waiting-list group. A 20-week rehabilitation programme based on 19 films on different themes was supplemented with written material and a dialogue over the internet. Fifty participants, 25 in each group, were followed up for 1 year after programme completion. They were administered the same questionnaire (SF-36, HAD, Stress Barometer) that they had taken immediately before (pre) and after (post) the rehabilitation programme. No significant differences were found regarding stress and health between the treatment and waiting-list groups at the time of the 12-month follow-up. Significant group differences were, however, seen in work capacity (number of hours worked per week): 52% of the participants in the treatment group reported an increased work capacity, compared with only 13% in the waiting-list group (P=0.005). Rehabilitation of people on long-term sick leave, which is carried out over the internet seems to complement other rehabilitation programmes as well.