Needs Assessment ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Self-Reported Poor Work AbilityVAn Indicator of Need for Rehabilitation? A Cross-Sectional Study of a Sample of German Employees ABSTRACT Bethge M, Spanier K, Neugebauer T, Mohnberg I, Radoschewski FM: Self- reported poor work abilityVan indicator of need for rehabilitation? A cross- sectional study of a sample of German employees. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2015;94:958Y966. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess associations of self- reported work ability as measured by the Work Ability Index (WAI) with modifiable behavioral and occupational health risks, health service utilization, and intended rehabilitation and pension requests. Design: This is a cross-sectional study of a random sample of German employees aged 40Y54 yrs on sickness benefits in 2012 (trial registration: DRKS00004824). Results: In total, 1312 male and 1502 female employees were included in the analyses. Low WAI scores (i.e., G37 points) were associated with a higher prevalence of occupational and behavioral health risks; a higher likelihood of fre- quent visits to general, somatic, and psychologic specialists as well as hospital stays; and four to six times higher risks of intended rehabilitation and pension requests. A two-item version of the WAI was as strongly associated with intended rehabilitation and pension requests as the total score. Conclusions: This study indicates that the WAI is a sensitive screening tool to identify workers on sick leave with a probable need for rehabilitation. The WAI could support the assessment of need for rehabilitation by occupational health services in return-to-work strategies, which include the opportunity to access multiprofessional rehabilitation. Key Words: Needs Assessment, Occupational Health, Rehabilitation, Pensions Authors: Matthias Bethge, PhD Katja Spanier, MA Tjark Neugebauer, BA Inka Mohnberg, Dipl-Pa ¨d (Rehab) Friedrich Michael Radoschewski, MD Affiliations: From the Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Lu ¨ beck, Lu ¨ beck, Germany (MB, KS); Centre for Quality Management in Healthcare, Physicians_ Chamber of Lower Saxony, Hannover, Germany (TN); and Institute of Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Science, Charite ´ VUniversita ¨tsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany (IM, FMR). Correspondence: All correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to: Matthias Bethge, PhD, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lu ¨ beck, Germany. Disclosures: MB and FMR planned and designed the study. MB, KS, and TN analyzed the data. KS, TN, and IM organized data management. All authors interpreted the data, drafted the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. This research was funded by the Federal German Pension Insurance. Financial disclosure statements have been obtained, and no conflicts of interest have been reported by the authors or by any individuals in control of the content of this article. Editor’s Note: Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal_s Web site (www.ajpmr.com). 0894-9115/15/9411-0958 American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Copyright * 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000000281 958 Am. J. Phys. Med. Rehabil. & Vol. 94, No. 11, November 2015 Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.