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CompletedNCT04432129IBBIS IIUpdated Feb 4, 2026

Integrated Mental Health Care and Vocational Rehabilitation to People With to Common Mental Disorders

An interventional study of IBBIS II and Service as Usual in Common Mental Disorders, Depression and Anxiety, sponsored by Amager Hospital. Completed at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-02-04.

Sponsored by Amager Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
900
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of an integrated mental health care and vocational rehabilitation intervention for people on sick leave because of depression, stress, anxiety, personality- and functional disorders in Denmark

Read the detailed description

Background:

Mental illness has an estimated financial burden on the Danish economy of 3.4 % of Gross National Product every year due to lost productivity, social benefits and healthcare costs and approximately 50 % of people receiving long-term sickness benefits have a common mental illness. Furthermore, a significant treatment gap exists where less than 30% were treated for their mental illness.

Objective:

The primary objective of the randomized trial is to examine whether people on sick leave with a diagnosis of anxiety, depression, stress, personality disorders or functional disorders, return to work faster and have a higher job retention if they receive an integrated and optimized vocational rehabilitation and mental health care intervention, compared to people who receive the standard mental health care and vocational rehabilitation service.

Method:

The trial is designed as an randomized, two-group parallel, assessor-blinded, multisite trial. A total of 800 participants with a common mental illness will randomly be assigned into two groups 1) IBBIS II, consisting of an integrated mental health care and vocational rehabilitation; or 2) Service as usual, at two sites in Denmark. The primary outcome is difference between the two groups in time to return to work at 12 months.

Results/discussion:

This study will contribute with new knowledge on vocational recovery and integrated vocational and health care interventions in a Scandinavian context.

02

Conditions studied

  • Common Mental Disorders
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Personality Disorders
  • Functional Disease Present
  • Stress

Keywords

  • Vocational rehabilitation
  • Mental health services
  • Return to Work
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

- Inclusion criteria

  • Anxiety, depression, stress, personality disorder or functional disorder diagnosed at a structured diagnostic interview based on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview conducted by the IBBIS team
  • Sickness benefit recipient at baseline; on sick leave from job or unemployed for a minimum of four weeks
  • Resident in Copenhagen or Aarhus municipalities
  • Speak sufficient Danish to participate in interviews and complete questionnaires without an interpreter
  • Aged 18 or older
  • Has given informed written consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant
  • High degree of suicidal ideation
  • Dementia
  • Abuse of alcohol or other drugs to the degree that participation in therapy is not possible
  • A need for mental health treatment in secondary sector care
  • Unstable somatic condition that is too severe for participation in the project
  • The participant will not refrain from participating in other psychotherapeutic treatment outside the IBBIS project if the participant will be allocated to the experimental group
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
900 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    IBBIS II

    Integrated Mental Health Care and Vocational Rehabilitation

    Behavioral: IBBIS II

  • Active comparator
    Service As Usual

    Standard vocational rehabilitation and treatment

    Behavioral: Service as Usual

Interventions

  • BehavioralIBBIS II

    The IBBIS-II service consists of: 1. Mental health assessment. 2. Planned integrated service. The participant has the same employment specialists and care manager throughout the intervention. A joint plan is made with shared decisions between the participant, the employment specialist and the care manager. There is a focus on disclosure (openness about illness) and involvement of relatives and significant others. 3. Vocational rehabilitation. Focus on return to work with ongoing assessment of job goals, competencies and need of support. Participants receive help in contacting existing employers (employed) and potential employers (unemployed). Unemployed participants are offered an individualized job search effort. The focus is on competitive jobs within the community. 4. Treatment consists of stepped care with structured treatment guidelines. 5. When the participant has obtained work the team continues to offer support.

  • BehavioralService as Usual

    Service as usual consists of standard mental health care and vocational rehabilitation

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Return to work

    Difference between the two groups in time to return to work from baseline until 12 months after baseline measured whit register based data. Time to return to work is defined as a minimum of four weeks of continuous work without receiving sickness benefit.

    Time frame: 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Work at one point during follow-up

    Proportion in unsupported competitive work at 6 and 12-months follow up

    Time frame: 12 months

  2. Return to work

    Time to return to work from baseline until 6 months after baseline measured whit register based data

    Time frame: 6 months

  3. Supported work at one point during follow-up

    Proportion in supported work at 6 and 12-months follow up

    Time frame: 12 months

  4. Weeks of work

    Number of weeks in competitive employment from baseline to 6 and 12 months

    Time frame: 12 months

  5. Time to new sick leave

    The duration from return to work to potential new sick leave of more than 4 weeks within the 12-month follow-up period

    Time frame: 12 months

  6. Income

    Salary income from competitive employment at 6 and 12 months after baseline

    Time frame: 12 months

  7. Use of psychiatric services

    Number of admissions, inpatient days and outpatient contacts at the psychiatric hospitals at 6- and 12-months follow-up

    Time frame: 12 months

  8. Use of somatic services

    Number of admissions, inpatient days and outpatient contacts at the somatic hospitals at 6- and 12-months follow-up

    Time frame: 12 months

  9. Use of private health care

    Number of contacts with private health care professionals under the Health Insurance

    Time frame: 12 months

06

Study locations

1 site
  • Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health - CORE
    Copenhagen, 2900, Denmark
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Christensen TN, Poulsen CH, Ebersbach BK, Eplov LF. Integrated mental health care and vocational rehabilitation intervention to improve return to work rates for people on sick leave due to common mental and functional disorders (IBBIS-II)-a study protocol for a randomized clinical trial. Trials. 2022 Sep 30;23(1):820. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06718-7. PubMed 36175977 ↗
  • Christensen TN, Hjorthoj C, Poulsen CH, Ebersbach B, Eplov LF. Integrated mental health care and vocational rehabilitation intervention to improve return to work rates for people on sick leave due to common mental and functional disorders (IBBIS-II) - results from a randomized clinical trial. Nord J Psychiatry. 2025 Jan;79(1):86-95. doi: 10.1080/08039488.2024.2446362. Epub 2025 Jan 6. PubMed 39760219 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Individual participant data will not be publicly available due to legal restrictions from the Danish data protection agency and the European data protection regulation

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04432129
Lead sponsor
Amager Hospital
Collaborators
The Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment, Central Denmark Region, Aarhus Kommune, Københavns Kommune
Responsible party
Lene Falgaard Eplov (Head of Research, Associate professor, Amager Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 16, 2020
Start date
Jun 9, 2020
Primary completion
Oct 1, 2022
Completion
Oct 1, 2022
Last update
Feb 4, 2026

Study contacts

Lene F Eplov, PhD
principal investigator · Mental Health Center Copenhagen

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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