Esther Maas

Esther Maas is an Assistant Professor in Methodology and Biostatistics at the Department of Health Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She is affiliated with the Amsterdam Movement Sciences (AMS) Research Institute as a member of the Musculoskeletal Health Program board. Her research focuses on epidemiological studies in musculoskeletal health, healthcare cost-effectiveness, and occupational health interventions, funded by organizations like WHO and ZonMW. Key projects include longitudinal physical activity trajectories in older adults, low back pain treatment guidelines, and cost analyses in musculoskeletal disorders.

Teaching roles include coordination of epidemiology courses for Health Sciences students and supervision of bachelor’s internships. Her methodological expertise includes latent class growth models and sequence analyses. Recent work addresses post-COVID-19 work trajectories and cost-effectiveness of interventions like motivational interviewing in occupational settings.

Research Interests:
- Musculoskeletal Health Outcomes
- Health Technology Assessment
- Cost-effectiveness Analysis
- Longitudinal Trajectory Modeling
- Occupational Rehabilitation

Notable Projects:
- BACE-C cohort study on chiropractic care costs
- MI-NAV economic evaluation of vocational advice interventions
- Physiotherapists’ use of osteoarthritis outcome scores post-arthroplasty