Recovery expectation

Status: stable Category: rtw_belief Added: 2026-04-20 Last reviewed: 2026-06-03

Summary

A single-item recovery-expectation measure. One question, one integer answer 0–10, three bands (poor, moderate, good). Despite its brevity, single-item recovery expectation is one of the strongest published predictors of return-to-work outcomes in musculoskeletal injury populations — the doc's short length is not a reflection of its predictive weight.

Resource identity

Field	Value
Category	rtw_belief
Resource	recovery_expectation
Instrument ID	recovery_expectation
Rubric version	1.0.0
Path prefix	/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation

Operations

Operation	Method	Path	Contract
Questions	GET	/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/questions	patterns-questions.md
Score	POST	/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score	patterns-score.md

Items

One item on a 0–10 integer scale.

ID	Prompt (paraphrased)	Range
item_1	How likely is it that you will be able to do your usual work 6 months from now?	0 – 10

Higher values indicate higher expectation of recovery to usual work.

Scoring

Field	Value
Method	simple_sum over [item_1] (pass-through of the single value).
Score range	0 – 10.

Bands

Band	Range (inclusive)	Clinical meaning
poor	0 – 4	Poor recovery expectation — an important risk signal.
moderate	5 – 7	Moderate recovery expectation.
good	8 – 10	Good recovery expectation.

The band names are risk-aligned — poor is the elevated-risk end — so this instrument composes correctly with the others in the CDRI composite. The canonical cutoff for "elevated risk" is around 5 (band poor). Subjects reporting a belief below 5 are disproportionately likely to experience prolonged work disability.

Note the sign: higher is better here, consistent with the item wording. This is the opposite of disability instruments like ODI and NDI. Use band rather than raw score when mixing instruments.

Required items

item_1 is required. A /score call without it returns 400 ValidationError.

Worked example

Single item answered with 5. See quickstart.md for per-language scaffolding and patterns-score.md for the shared /score contract.

Send:

POST /api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score HTTP/1.1
Host: engine.tripod-health.com
apikey: $ENGINE_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json
X-Request-ID: docs-recovery_expectation-score-basic

{"responses":{"item_1":5}}

Receive (200 OK):

{
  "instrument": "recovery_expectation",
  "category": "rtw_belief",
  "finding": {
    "algorithm_id": "recovery_expectation",
    "algorithm_version": "1.0.0",
    "score": 5,
    "band": "moderate",
    "raw": {
      "rubric_version": "1.0.0",
      "responded_items": 1
    },
    "context": null,
    "imputed": false,
    "sd": null,
    "prior_source": null
  },
  "confidence": {
    "overall": 1,
    "tier": "high",
    "breakdown": {
      "input_completeness": 1,
      "imputation_variance": null,
      "model_certainty": null
    }
  },
  "recommendations": null,
  "depth": "basic",
  "catalog_version": "0.13.0",
  "request_id": "docs-recovery_expectation-score-basic",
  "timestamp": "2026-04-21T23:15:01.756123+00:00"
}

Computation: item_1 = 5 → score = 5 → band moderate (5–7). item_1 = 3 → score = 3 → band poor (0–4). item_1 = 9 → score = 9 → band good (8–10).

Calling in your language

curl

curl -sS -X POST "https://engine.tripod-health.com/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score" \
  -H "apikey: $ENGINE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"responses":{"item_1":5}}'

Python (requests)

# Uses the call() helper from quickstart.md.
result = call("POST",
              "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score",
              {"responses": {"item_1": 5}})
print(result["finding"]["score"], result["finding"]["band"])

Node.js (native fetch)

// Uses the call() helper from quickstart.md.
const result = await call("POST",
  "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score",
  { responses: { item_1: 5 } });
console.log(result.finding.score, result.finding.band);

TypeScript

// Uses the typed call<T>() helper from quickstart.md.
const result = await call<ScoreResponse>(
  "POST",
  "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score",
  { responses: { item_1: 5 } },
);

Go

// Uses the call() helper from quickstart.md.
result, err := call("POST",
    "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score",
    map[string]any{"responses": map[string]int{"item_1": 5}}, 3)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
finding := result["finding"].(map[string]any)
fmt.Printf("recovery_expectation: %v (%v)\n", finding["score"], finding["band"])

Java

// Uses the call() helper from quickstart.md.
String result = call("POST",
    "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score",
    "{\"responses\":{\"item_1\":5}}", 3);
System.out.println(result);

C# (.NET HttpClient)

// Uses the Call() helper from quickstart.md.
var result = await Call(HttpMethod.Post,
    "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score",
    new { responses = new { item_1 = 5 } });
var finding = result.GetProperty("finding");
Console.WriteLine($"recovery_expectation: {finding.GetProperty("score").GetDouble()} ({finding.GetProperty("band").GetString()})");

PowerShell

# Uses the Invoke-Engine helper from quickstart.md.
$result = Invoke-Engine -Method Post -Path "/api/rtw_belief/recovery_expectation/score" -Body @{
    responses = @{ item_1 = 5 }
}
"recovery_expectation: $($result.finding.score) ($($result.finding.band))"

Clinical interpretation

• What it measures. Self-reported expectation of being able to do usual work six months from the time of administration.
• Predictive weight. Single-item recovery expectation has published predictive validity on par with multi-item psychosocial screens for return-to-work outcomes. It is short because one item is enough — not because the construct is minor.
• Mechanism. Expectation is both a reflection of current function and an anchoring prediction that influences subsequent engagement with rehabilitation and work. Interventions that improve the expectation can improve the outcome.

Intended use

• Brief RTW-risk probe embedded in any musculoskeletal assessment.
• Triage signal for deciding whether to administer longer psychosocial instruments.
• Time-series tracking — the same item asked repeatedly gives a quick read on whether expectation is shifting with rehabilitation.
• Feeding the CDRI composite as the return-to-work-belief signal.

Mistaken use

• Do not interpret as a prognosis. It is an expectation — a self-report of belief, not a predicted outcome. It predicts outcomes statistically but does not determine them.
• Do not treat "poor" as "will not return to work." It is a risk flag; targeted intervention can change expectations and outcomes.
• Do not substitute this for a full psychosocial screen when the workflow calls for one.

Debugging

1. Capture request_id. Present in every response body.
2. Score outside 0–10. Client-side data error — confirm the response value is an integer in the allowed range. Values like 100 or -1 will still sum through and produce an unknown band.
3. 400 ValidationError with missing_items: ["item_1"]. The body did not include item_1. No other items exist; this is a single-item instrument.

Related

• patterns-questions.md, patterns-score.md — shared contracts.
• instruments-orebro.md — Örebro; includes multi-item recovery-expectation content as part of its broader yellow-flag screen.
• instruments-work_ability.md — Work Ability Index; measures current work ability rather than future expectation.
• composite-cdri-compute.md — composite.

Change history

Date	Change
2026-04-20	Initial publication.
2026-06-03	Renamed bands low/high → poor/good so they are risk-aligned and compose correctly in the CDRI composite.