Background Return to work with or after a chronic disease is not a very well understood process, influenced by a variety of personal, professional, societal and medical factors. The aim of this study is to identify predictors for return to work 12 months after a solid organ transplant applying a bio-psycho-social model. Methods This study is based on patients included in the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study, a national prospective multicentre cohort, who underwent a first solid organ transplant (kidney, liver, heart, lung). Bio-psycho-social factors were tested and predictors of return to work identified using logistic regression models. Results Among the 636 patients included in the study, 49.8% (317) were employed 12 months post-transplant. The major predictor for returning to work 12 months posttransplant was pre-transplant employment status (OR 10.8). Accordingly, the population was stratified in employed and not employed pre-transplant groups. Age, self-perceived health (6 months post-transplant) and the transplanted organ were significantly associated with post-transplant employment status in both groups. Return to work was influenced by education, depression (6 month post-transplant) and waiting time in the employed pre-transplant group and by invalidity pension in the not employed pre-transplant group. Conclusion Employment status pre-transplant being highly associated with employment status post-transplant, the process promoting return to work should be started well before surgery. Biomedical, psychological and social factors must be taken into account to promote return to work in transplanted patients.
Keywords: Employment status; Organ transplantation; Post-transplant; Pre-transplant; Return to work.