Wouter Leclercq

Chapter 10 168 Table 10.1 Baseline characteristics. Intervention group (n=173) Control group (n=171) Men 78 (45%) 79 (46%) Women 95 (55%) 92 (54%) Age (years) 52 (42–61) 51 (41–58) Nationality Dutch 171 (99%) 168 (98%) Other 2 (1%) 3 (2%) Level of education Low 31 (18%) 31 (18%) Medium 50 (29%) 58 (34%) High 92 (53%) 82 (48%) Employed 132 (76%) 123 (72%) Salaried employment 106 95 Self-employed 25 26 Volunteer work 1 2 Not employed 41 (24%) 48 (28%) Domestic work 8 7 Student 3 1 Incapacitated for work 5 4 Unemployed 2 9 Retired 23 27 Type of work* Light or medium intensity level 98 (74%) 90 (73%) Heavy intensity level 34 (26%) 33 (27%) Type of surgery Gynaecological 54 (31%) 49 (29%) Hernia inguinal surgery (laparoscopic) 67 63 Hernia inguinal surgery (open) 1 2 Cholecystectomy (laparoscopic) 51 57 Return to work expectation (days)† 14 (7–14) 10 (5–14) Return to normal activities expectation (days)‡ 14 (14–28) 14 (10–28) Baseline PROMIS-PF score§ 52 (8) 51 (8) Difficulty of the selected PROMIS-PF items¶ –0.6 (0.6) –0.6 (0.8) Complications during surgery 3 (2%) 4 (3%) Complications after surgery 3 (2%) 2 (1%) Data are number of patients (%), median (IQR), or mean (SD). PROMIS-PF=Dutch–Flemish Patient- Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function. * Only applicable to employed participants; light or medium intensity level defined as sedentary work, no heavy lifting required; heavy intensity level defined as lifting and carrying loads required. † Number of days participants expect that they will return to work after surgery. ‡ Number of days participants expect that they will return to normal activities after surgery. § T-score of physical function short form (a T-score of 50 represents the average score of the general US population). ¶ Mean first threshold of the Item Response Theory item characteristic curve of the eight selected items on baseline.