RELY studies: The reproducibility of psychiatric evaluations of work disability
Expert psychiatrists conducting work disability evaluations often disagree on work capacity (WC) when assessing the same patient. More structured and standardised evaluations focusing on function could improve agreement. The RELY studies aimed to establish the inter-rater reproducibility (reliability and agreement) of ‘functional evaluations’ in patients with mental disorders applying for disability benefits and to compare the effect of limited versus intensive expert training on reproducibility. More info (German and French)
RELY Design, Methodology, and Results
Project group leader
Project group
Regina Kunz, David Y von Allmen, Renato Marelli, Jürgen Barth, Ulrike Hoffmann-Richter, Joerg Jeger, Ralph Mager, Etienne Colomb, Heinz J Schaad, Monica Bachmann, Nicole Vogel, Jason W Busse, Martin Eichhorn, Oskar Bänziger, Thomas Zumbrunn, Wout de Boer, Katrin Fischer
Key publications
Barth J, de Boer WE, Busse JW, Hoving JL, Kedzia S, Couban R, Fischer K, von Allmen DY, Spanjer J, Kunz R. Inter-rater agreement in evaluation of disability: systematic review of reproducibility studies. BMJ. 2017;356:j14. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j14.
Bachmann M, de Boer W, Schandelmaier S, Leibold A, Marelli R, Jeger J, Hoffmann-Richter U, Mager R, Schaad H, Zumbrunn T, Vogel N, Bänziger O, Busse JW, Fischer K, Kunz R. Use of a structured functional evaluation process for independent medical evaluations of claimants presenting with disabling mental illness: rationale and design for a multi-center reliability study. BMC Psychiatry. 2016;16:271.
Kunz R, von Allmen DY, Marelli R, Hoffmann-Richter U, Jeger J, Mager R, et al. The reproducibility of psychiatric evaluations of work disability: two reliability and agreement studies. BMC Psychiatry. 2019 Jul 3;19(1):205. https://rdcu.be/c5AwK
Further publications
Timm Rosburg, David Y. von Allmen, Helena Langewitz, Heidemarie Weber, Edward B. Bunker, Wolf Langewitz. Patient-centeredness in psychiatric work disability evaluations and the reproducibility of work capacity estimates Patient Education and Counseling 2024, Volume 119, 108093 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.108093
Rosburg T, Lohss R, Bachmann MS, Meyer BW, Boer W, Fischer K, Kunz R. Integration der Versichertenperspektive in die Qualitätsbewertung der Begutachtung [Integration of the Insured Person's Perspective in the Quality Assessment of Medical Evaluations]. Ther Umsch. 2023;80(2):78-84. German.
Rosburg T, Lohss R, Bachmann MS, Walter Meyer B, de Boer W, Fischer K, et al. Basler Fairness Fragebogen (BFF): Erlebte Fairness der Begutachtung. Suva Medical 2021.(3).
Lohss R, Rosburg T, Bachmann M, Meyer BW, de Boer W, Fischer K, Kunz R. Perceived fairness of claimants undergoing a work disability evaluation: Development and validation of the Basel Fairness Questionnaire. PLoS One. 2020;15(9):e0238930. https://doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0238930
von Allmen DY, Kedzia S, Dettwiler R, Vogel N, Kunz R, de Boer WEL. Functional interviewing was associated with improved agreement among expert psychiatrists in estimating claimant work capacity: A secondary data analysis of real-life work disability evaluations. Front Psychiatry. 2020 Jul 3;11:621. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00621
Stefan Schandelmaier, Andrea Leibold, Katrin Fischer, Ralph Mager, Ulrike Hoffmann-Richter, Monica Susanne Bachmann, Sarah Kedzia, Jason Walter Busse, Gordon Henry Guyatt, Joerg Jeger, Renato Marelli, Wout Ernst Lodewijk De Boer, Regina Kunz. Attitudes towards evaluation of psychiatric disability claims: a survey of Swiss stakeholders. Swiss Med Wkly. 2015;145:w14160 https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2015.14160
Stefan Schandelmaier, Katrin Fischer, Ralph Mager, Ulrike Hoffmann-Richter, Andrea Leibold, Monica S Bachmann, Sarah Kedzia, Joerg Jeger, Renato Marelli, Regina Kunz, Wout E. L. De Boer. Evaluation of work capacity in Switzerland: a survey among psychiatrists about practice and problems. Swiss Med Wkly. 2013;143:w13890 https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2013.13890