Return to work after burn—A prospective study

Return to work (RTW) is one of the most important objectives to strive for in burn rehabilitation. Most individuals do return to work after burn but there is a subgroup that does not. Prospective long-time follow-up studies focusing on RTW after burn are scarce. Consecutive adult burn patients employed before injury (n = 58) were included in the present study during hospitalization and subsequently followed up for 12 months. In addition, a structured interview was performed at 2–7 years after burn. At that time; mean 4.5 years (SD 2.0) after burn; 67% of the participants had returned to their work. Predictive variables for time to RTW were length of stay (LOS) at the burn center and fulfilling criteria for Any personality disorder. No RTW was predicted by LOS and having Any anxiety disorder or Any substance use disorder prior to the burn. The non-working group reported lower generic (EQ-5D) and burn-specific (BSHS-B) HRQoL than the working group at every time point. Identification of risk factors associated with difficulties in RTW is required in order to execute individualized vocational rehabilitation.