Perceived stress and sickness absence: a prospective study of 17,795 employees in Denmark

Abstract

Objectives The aims were to examine (1) the prospective association between perceived stress and sickness absence, and if this association (2) differed by sex, and (3) was stronger when only long-term sickness absence (≥ 31 days) instead of all-length sickness absence (≥ 1 day) was included. Moreover, different cut-points for the length of the sickness absence periods were applied. Methods We followed respondents (10,634 women and 7161 men) from the ‘Work Environment and Health in Denmark’ 2014-survey for up to 18 months in the ‘Register of Work Absences’ from Statistics Denmark. Perceived stress was measured by a single question: “In the last 2 weeks, how often have you felt stressed?” We used Cox-regression with repeated events, adjusted for age, sector, education, and previous sickness absence. Results The hazard ratio (HR) for all-length sickness absence (≥ 1 day) for “Often/Always” stress compared to “Seldom/Never” stress was statistically significant among both men (HR = 1.25 [1.13–1.38]) and women (HR = 1.43 [1.34–1.51]). The HR was statistically significant for women (HR = 2.26 [1.89–2.70]), but not for men (HR = 1.22 [0.86–1.73]), when the analyses were restricted to long-term sickness absence (≥ 31 days). The sex-difference was statistically significant. Additional analyses with cut-points at ≥ 2, ≥ 4, ≥ 6, ≥ 8, ≥ 11, ≥ 15, ≥ 20, and ≥ 25 sickness absence days showed that among women, the HR increased gradually with increasing lengths of the sickness absence periods. Conclusions The prospective association of perceived stress with risk of sickness absence was stronger among women than men. Among women, perceived stress was more strongly associated with long-term sickness absence than with all-length sickness absence.

Expected Labor Market Affiliation: A New Method Illustrated by Estimating the Impact of Perceived Stress on Time in Work, Sickness Absence and Unemployment of 37,605 Danish Employees

“…of all Danes from 2008 until 2018; (2) the education register, containing dates of the highest education level completion for all Danes; (3) the death register, with death dates for all deceased Danes; (4) the emigration and immigration register, containing dates on all emigrations and immigrations in Denmark; (5) the Register of Work Absences (RoWA), containing registrations of employment-related sickness absences down to one day of duration. The RoWA cover all public employees and a yearly weighted sample from the private sector with a coverage of approximately 37% of all private employees [17]; and (6) the employment register, containing dates on employment periods for the individuals in the RoWA register. It is important to note that in the multi-state model an individual is categorized as sick-listed, only when the sickness absence refers to the health of the individual.…”

“…Perceived stress, defined as the degree to which situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful [ 12 ], is associated with an increased risk of sickness absence and early retirement [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. A recent large national Danish study showed that the prevalence of perceived stress is particularly high among working adults aged 18–44 years, with a prevalence of 35% and 24% for women and men, respectively [ 18 ].…”

“…Previous studies on perceived stress and labor market outcomes have investigated the association with single labor market outcomes, such as sickness absence, disability pension, or return to work [ 16 , 17 ]. However, in a highly flexible and dynamic labor market such as the Danish labor market, individuals are likely to experience recurrent periods of sickness absence and unemployment in between periods of work, making analysis of single outcomes an oversimplification of the complex work participation patterns [ 3 , 11 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Implementation of integrated operating rooms: how much time is saved and how do medical staff experience the upgrading? A mixed methods study in Denmark

“… 21 23 Perceived stress has recently been found to be associated with risk of absence due to sickness, suggesting that reduced stress among surgical personnel might have a positive effect on absence over time. 28 In our study, the non-sterile nurses experienced an improvement to their working environments following the implementation and use of the IOR.…”

Unplanned Absenteeism: The Role of Workplace and Non-Workplace Stressors

“…Nevertheless, work stressors specific to the job of nurses are seldom assessed for their associations with unplanned absenteeism. A study on the association of job stress and sickness absence among the general working population in Denmark found that female workers had different strength of association for perceived stress between long-term sickness absence and all-length sickness absence [ 22 ]. Thus, to study the association of work stress and unplanned absenteeism among nurses, of whom the majority are female, the duration of MC or EL needs to be analyzed too.…”