[Return to work: “Endpoint” of rehabilitation and occupational medicine intervention in stroke outcomes. The state of the art]

Cerebrovascular diseases, in particular stroke, are historically known as diseases that mainly affect the elderly, which is why "Return to work" (RTW) is considered an outcome index only in a few studies. However, the increased incidence of stroke in individuals of working age, coupled with the phenomena of increased survival and retirement age occurring in today's society, lead to a reconsideration of RTW as an important endpoint of recovery after stroke. Especially in the last twenty years, rehabilitation scenarios have evolved towards a multidisciplinary vision focused on the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions, also with respect to the "Health related-Quality of life" (HRQoL), and towards greater scientific rigor in therapeutic choices (extended also to the new "IoT" Technologies), with an interest in standardized measures effectively linked to functional improvement. On the basis of a complete review of the literature, we want to expose here the fundamental factors associated with post-stroke RTW, with a view to recapitulating the acquired and stabilized results that influence the joint approach between occupational medicine and rehabilitation.