Different domains of health functioning as predictors of sickness absence – a prospective cohort study

Abstract

213Original article Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011;37(3):213-218. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3131 Different domains of health functioning as predictors of sickness absencea prospective cohort study by Mikko Laaksonen, PhD,1 PhD, MD, PhD, 2 Eero Lahelma, PhD 1 Laaksonen M, Kääriä S-M, Leino-Arjas P, Lahelma E. Different domains of health functioning as predictors of sickness absence -a prospective cohort study. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011;37(3):213-218. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3131 Objectives The aim of this study was to examine different domains of health functioning as predictors of sickness absence.Methods The Short Form 36 (SF-36) is one of the best known instruments measuring various domains of physical and mental health functioning. A questionnaire including the SF-36 was mailed to 40-60-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki in 2000-2002. For the subsequent three years, sickness absence episodes >2 weeks were derived from the employer's register. The predictive ability of the eight subscales and two component summaries of the SF-36 were compared using regression methods and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results All eight SF-36 subscales and the two component summaries predicted the occurrence of sickness absence over the follow-up period. Among women, bodily pain was the strongest predictor, with 1 standard deviation increase in bodily pain increasing the occurrence of sickness absence by 77% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 68-86%]. Role limitations due to emotional problems were the weakest predictor of sickness absence (29%, 95% CI 23-36%). Among men, the results were similar to those of women. In both genders, the area under the ROC curve was largest for bodily pain, general health, and physical functioning and lowest for mental health and role limitation due to emotional problems. ConclusionsThe subscales measuring physical domains of functioning were more strongly associated with sickness absence than the mental subscales. In particular, ability to perform daily activities, pain, and general health were important predictors of sickness absence >2 weeks. Sickness absence has been increasingly used as an outcome in research on work and health. However, there is some debate about the nature and validity of sickness absence as a health measure. It has been argued that motivational factors and employee satisfaction play a decisive role in sickness absence behavior (1, 2), which is also affected by contextual factors at work (3, 4) and outside of work (5, 6). Previous studies examining associations between sickness absence and other health measures have shown that medically confirmed sickness absence predicts future disability retirement (7, 8) and mortality (9-11). In a UK study, medically confirmed sickness absence predicted mortality even better than well-established indicators of general health such as poor self-rated health or having a longstanding illness (12). The association with mortality has been observed for various causes of death (11, 13), and diagnostic inf...

Do work factors modify the association between chronic health problems and sickness absence among older employees?

“…Additional analyses showed that, at baseline, men were less likely than women to have cumulative sickness absence of [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] More than fifty per cent of the participants were not absent during the one-year follow-up, about 27% had a short cumulative sickness absence (1-9 days) and about 17% had high cumulative sickness absence (>9 days) within the past year. The prevalence of sickness absence at baseline was 47% and 45% at follow-up.…”

“…Alongside ageing, health problems occur more often and in turn work ability can decrease (1). Poor health can lead to reduced productivity in terms of productivity loss at work, increased sickness absence, or exit from the workforce (2)(3)(4). The influence that poor health has on sickness absence differs for various types of health problems (3)(4)(5).…”

“…Poor health can lead to reduced productivity in terms of productivity loss at work, increased sickness absence, or exit from the workforce (2)(3)(4). The influence that poor health has on sickness absence differs for various types of health problems (3)(4)(5). Work-related factors, such as autonomy, social support, and work pressure also influence productivity loss at work and sickness absence (6)(7)(8)(9).…”

“…Since past studies have shown that different health problems affect sickness absence to a different extent (3,5), it is possible that effect modification of work-related factors also differs per health condition. We hypothesize that health problems will cause sickness absence if unfavorable work factors are present that trigger or aggravate the health problems or that interfere with functioning.…”

Predictors of short- and long-term sickness absence in female post office workers in Poland

“…The results of Norwegian studies carried out on a group of workers employed in the chemical industry have not revealed any effect of shift work on absence caused by the major categories of diseases [31], while an Italian study has shown a 40% decrease in the risk of absence of 7 days and longer among women working shifts (regardless of the number of shifts) compared with those working a single shift (no shifts) [30]. The effect of working conditions expressed as a variable "breaks at work" in the model of short-term absence (1-29 days), in which a 50% increase in the risk in the case of "breaks at work according to workers' needs," which may have indirectly reflected the workload; as well as workload expressed as the number of customers served during one IJOMEH 2016;29(4) 558 the major predictors of sickness absence of over 2 weeks among workers aged 40-60 [42].…”