Otherwise, data were discussed qualitatively, considering all key GSK1120212 characteristics and placing the evidence in light of the study strengths and weaknesses. To best explain the relationship between illness perceptions and work participation,

we made a distinction between studies with a longitudinal design and those with a cross-sectional design. As the design of longitudinal studies carries, in comparison with cross sectional studies, in potential more weight with regard to causality, these are presented first. The results were described by considering both the type of analyses (descriptive analyses or multivariate analyses) and the type of study design (longitudinal or cross-sectional design). Both the longitudinal studies and the cross-sectional studies used descriptive (comparative) analyses by comparing illness perception dimension scores in working versus non-working patients. In addition, both also used multivariate stepwise regression analyses to show the added value of including illness perceptions over and above commonly used health and socio-demographic variables, either in predicting return to work using baseline data (longitudinal studies) or in showing its association with

work participation (cross-sectional studies) at one moment in time. Results Study selection and characteristics The primary search strategy generated 5,163 references. After a first selection on title and abstract, 158 references were left for full-text screening. The majority of find more studies were excluded as they did not include an outcome on the level of work participation. Four studies met all criteria for inclusion and were selected for this review; two small studies using a longitudinal design including Protein kinase N1 72 and 77 patients (Petrie et al. 1996; McCarthy et al. 2003) and two larger survey studies using a cross-sectional design including 552 and 1,121 subjects (Sluiter and Frings-Dresen 2008; Boot et al. 2008). The study populations in the two longitudinal studies by McCarthy et

al. (2003) and Petrie et al. (1996) included, respectively, recent trauma as a result of molar extractions in the past week or recent myocardial infarction in the past 6 weeks. The two cross-sectional survey studies by Boot et al. (2008) and Sluiter and Frings-Dresen (2008) both included chronic populations: one with various chronic diseases (mean duration 8–10 years) (Boot et al. 2008) and the other chronic repetitive strain injury (RSI) (mean pain duration 6 years) (Sluiter and Frings-Dresen 2008) (see Table 1). The outcomes of work participation and definitions differed between studies; i.e., days until back to work, return to work rates at 6 weeks (longitudinal studies), or sick-listed or fully work disabled (cross-sectional studies).