Early stroke specialist vocational rehabilitation for REturn To work After stroKE: a synopsis from the…

Randomized trialHealth technology assessment (Winchester, England)· May 2026

Early stroke specialist vocational rehabilitation for REturn To work After stroKE: a synopsis from the RETAKE RCT.

Kate Radford, Alexandra Wright-Hughes, David Clarke … RETAKE Research Group

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Stroke RehabilitationRandomized trialTreatmentQ1IF 2.6

Vocational rehabilitation did not significantly improve return to work after stroke at 12 months

Early stroke specialist vocational rehabilitation for REturn To work After stroKE: a synopsis from the RETAKE RCT.

Kate Radford … RETAKE Research Group

Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · May 2026 · Q1 in General Medicine

Background

Return to work is achieved by < 50% stroke survivors.

Purpose

To determine whether Early Stroke Specialist Vocational Rehabilitation is more clinically effective and cost-effective at supporting return to work 12 months after stroke than usual care.

Methods

Were individually randomised, 5 : 4, to receive occupational therapy-led Early Stroke Specialist Vocational Rehabilitation + usual care.

n = 583 participants

Results

no significant difference in return to work between the groups

aOR 1.12 (95% CI 0.80 to 1.87)

CI crosses the null - not significant

More results

Primary and secondary outcome data were available for 454 (77.9%) and 316 (54.2%) participants, respectively.

Similar proportions of adverse events occurred in both groups [40/241 (16.6%) attended accident and emergency, 24/244 (9.1%) hospital admissions, 6/266 (2.3%) work accidents at 12 months].

Intervention compliance was achieved for 244 (75.3%) participants.

More results

LIMITATIONS: Most participants had mild-moderate stroke, unlike our feasibility evaluation which informed the sample size (powered to detect an absolute 13% difference in return to work).

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

REturn To work After stroKE was unable to demonstrate an effect or cost effect of Early Stroke Specialist Vocational Rehabilitation on return to work 12 months post randomisation.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced employer behaviour, and remote working diluted Early Stroke Specialist Vocational Rehabilitation mechanisms in a predominantly mild-moderate sample, many of whom were able to self-navigate return to work.

Early stroke specialist vocational rehabilitation for REturn To work After stroKE: a synopsis from the RETAKE RCT.

Early stroke specialist vocational rehabilitation for REturn To work After stroKE: a synopsis from the RETAKE RCT.

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