• Junie S Carrière, Stephania Donayre Pimentel, Sabine Bou Saba, Blake Boehme, Djamal Berbiche, Marie-France Coutu, and Marie-José Durand.
• École de réadaptation, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Centre de Recherche Charles-Le Moyne, Centre d'action en prévention et en réadaptation de l'incapacité au travail, Université de Sherbrooke, Longueuil, QC, Canada.
• Pain. 2023 Apr 1; 164 (4): e190e206e190-e206.

AbstractThe objective of this systematic review is to quantify the association between recovery expectations and return-to-work outcomes in adults with musculoskeletal pain conditions. In addition, this review has the second objective to compare the predictive utility of single-item and multi-item recovery expectation scales on return-to-work outcomes. Relevant articles were selected from Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochrane, and manual searches. Studies that assessed recovery expectations as predictors of return-to-work outcomes in adults with musculoskeletal pain conditions were eligible. Data were extracted on study characteristics, recovery expectations, return-to-work outcomes, and the quantitative association between recovery expectations and return-to-work outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project. Odds ratios were pooled to examine the effects of recovery expectations on return-to-work outcomes. Chi-square analyses compared the predictive utility of single-item and multi-item recovery expectation scales on return-to-work outcomes. Thirty studies on a total of 28,741 individuals with musculoskeletal pain conditions were included in this review. The odds of being work disabled at follow-up were twice as high in individuals with low recovery expectations (OR = 2.06 [95% CI 1.20-2.92] P < 0.001). Analyses also revealed no significant differences in the predictive value of validated and nonvalidated single-item measures of recovery expectations on work disability (χ 2 = 1.68, P = 0.19). There is strong evidence that recovery expectations are associated with return-to-work outcomes. The results suggest that single-item measures of recovery expectations can validly be used to predict return-to-work outcomes in individuals with musculoskeletal pain conditions.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

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