Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Order a digital copy of the thesis here
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Emma Haglund, Halmstad University, Sweden
- Second opponent: Professor Emeritus Egil Andreas Fors, NTNU: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor II Cecilie Røe, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor II Frank Becker, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Rikke Helene Moe, Senior Researcher, Diakonhjemmet Hospital
Summary
Multidisciplinary rehabilitation aims to improve functioning, quality of life, and work participation. Evidence on long-term work-related outcomes in larger, heterogenous rehabilitation populations remains limited. This thesis explored work ability and work participation after rehabilitation, and associations between work ability and subsequent health-related benefit use.
The thesis is based on data from RehabNytte, a cohort of 2710 working-age adults referred for multidisciplinary rehabilitation at 17 Norwegian rehabilitation institutions, combined with registry data from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (Nav) on sick leave, work assessment allowance (WAA) and disability benefits. Paper I explored factors associated with work ability 12 months after rehabilitation. Paper II explored differences in benefit use between the rehabilitation cohort and a registry-based control group over three years. Paper III examined associations between work ability at 3 and 12 months after rehabilitation admission and benefit use in the subsequent year.
Work ability increased gradually during the rehabilitation year. Higher work ability at 12 months was associated with better self-perceived health, while lower work ability was associated with greater pain intensity, more comorbidities, and cancer. Compared with controls, the rehabilitation group had higher health-related benefit use before and after rehabilitation, with fewer days on sick leave, but more days on WAA and disability benefits over time. Higher work ability at both 3 and 12 months after rehabilitation was associated with fewer subsequent days on WAA and disability benefits, while higher work ability at 3 months was associated with more days on sick leave. These findings suggest that work ability may serve as a meaningful indicator of future work participation and a useful tool for identifying people at risk of prolonged benefit dependency.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.