Sickness absence and mental health: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey

Wooden, Mark; Bubonya, Melisa; Cobb‐Clark, Deborah A.

doi:10.5271/sjweh.3553

Cited by 13 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This finding is also supported by a body of previous observational studies 41 43. Overall, our findings on the between-individual and within-individual estimate comparisons are in line with the studies showing that the association between SA and various predictors somewhat attenuates when unobserved characteristics are controlled for 18 19…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…We found that CMDs were associated with a 1.5-fold increase in the rate of SA in the short-term, while the association was non-significant in the longer term. An Australian study found a small within-individual association between severe depression and SA, and similarly with the present study, showed that, due to the omitted variable bias, between-individual comparison might provide an overstated effect of mental ill-health on SA 19. Furthermore, our results showed that changes in the reported physically strenuous work had a short-term and longer-term within-individual association with SA.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Negative binomial distribution was chosen over Poisson due to overdispersion in the outcome variables. Given the methodological problems with fixed-effect negative binomial regression models in mainstream statistical software packages such as Stata,36 we followed advocacy by Allison37 and previous examples from the SA research,18 19 and obtained the within-individual estimates from a hybrid model, also known as the ‘within-between’ estimator, for example 38. Random-effect models were fitted with both person-specific mean scores of each time-varying variable and person-specific deviation scores as regressors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The within-individual method is particularly relevant to pain as there might be important unobservable individual characteristics that are linked to both pain reporting and a higher risk of SA, such as weak immune system 15. While some studies have employed within-individual approach on research regarding other determinants of SA,16–19 we are unaware of any prior studies using this approach to investigate the association between pain and SA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Within-individual analysis of pain and sickness absence among employees from low and high occupational classes: a record linkage study

et al. 2019

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ObjectivesPain is linked to an increased risk of sickness absence (SA); however, the extent to which unmeasured time-invariant differences explain this association is yet unknown. Therefore, we determined the within-individual associations between pain and short-term (in the survey year) and long-term (2 years following the survey years) SA risk in high and low occupational classes while controlling for the potential bias due to unobservable time-invariant characteristics.MethodsThe Helsinki Health Study data consisting of midlife public sector employees with mailed surveys from up to four time points, and SA record linkage were used (3983 persons). The within-individual estimates were calculated using hybrid negative binomial regression models.ResultsAcute/subacute pain was associated with a 13% increase in the rate of short-term SA days (incidence rate ratio 1.13 [95% CI 1.01 to 1.27]), while the association was somewhat stronger for chronic pain (1.32 [1.19–1.47]). For the employees in the low occupational class, these associations were robust (1.29 [1.10–1.50] for acute/subacute and 1.43 [1.23–1.66] for chronic pain), whereas only chronic pain was associated with SA among those in the high occupational class (1.25 [1.08–1.46]). Chronic pain was also associated with SA days in the long term without occupational class differences. Similar results were obtained for multisite pain (pain in several locations).ConclusionsThese results indicate that particularly chronic and multisite pain have a within-individual link to SA but ignoring unobservable differences between those reporting pain and those not might yield overstated effect sizes. Pain might have a different relation to SA in low and high occupational classes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Within-individual analysis of pain and sickness absence among employees from low and high occupational classes: a record linkage study

et al. 2019

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“…Possible scores on the scale ranged from 0 to 100 with lower scores indicating greater psychological distress or worse mental health. The conservative cut-off point of 52 was used for the MHI-5 in this study which is often used to identify individuals at high risk for severe depression or other mental health problems [ 74 ]. The validity and reliability of both the MHI-5 and the larger SF-36 instrument have been previously validated in Ecuadorian immigrants [ 75 ] and other Latin American and Spanish-speaking groups [ 76 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Household Food Insecurity with the Mental and Physical Health of Low-Income Urban Ecuadorian Women with Children

Weigel

Armijos

Racines

et al. 2016

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

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Chronic physical and mental health conditions account for a rising proportion of morbidity, mortality, and disability in the Americas region. Household food insecurity (HFI) has been linked to chronic disease in US and Canadian women but it is uncertain if the same is true for low- and middle-income Latin American countries in epidemiologic transition. We conducted a survey to investigate the association of HFI with the physical and mental health of 794 women with children living in low-income Quito, Ecuador, neighborhoods. Data were collected on HFI and health indicators including self-reported health (SF-1), mental health (MHI-5), blood pressure, and self-reported mental and physical health complaints. Fasting blood glucose and lipids were measured in a subsample. The multivariate analyses revealed that HFI was associated with poorer self-rated health, low MHI-5 scores, and mental health complaints including stress, depression, and ethnospecific illnesses. It was also associated with chest tightness/discomfort/pain, dental disease, and gastrointestinal illness but not other conditions. The findings suggest that improving food security in low-income households may help reduce the burden of mental distress in women with children. The hypothesized link with diabetes and hypertension may become more apparent as Ecuador moves further along in the epidemiologic transition.

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Industry differences in psychological distress and distress-related productivity loss: A cross-sectional study of Australian workers

Burns,

Schroeder,

Fung

et al. 2023

Journal of Occupational Health

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ObjectiveThis research uses Australian survey data to identify industries with high rates of psychological distress, and to estimate productivity impacts in the form of work loss and cutback days.MethodsAnalyzing cross‐sectional data from the 2017/2018 National Health Survey, industry prevalence of psychological distress (Kessler Screening Scale) was compared using ordered logistic regression. Productivity outcomes were distress‐related work loss days and work cutback days in the previous 4 weeks. Losses were analyzed using zero‐inflated negative binomial regression.ResultsThe sample consisted of 9073 employed workers [4497 males (49.6%), 4576 females (50.4%)]. Compared to the reference industry, Health, the odds of very high distress for males were highest in Information media and telecommunications (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.2–4.6) and Administrative and support services (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.2–5.0), while for females the odds were highest in Accommodation and food services (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.5–2.8) followed by Retail (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.2–2.0). Very high distress was associated excess productivity losses. Industry of occupation did not impact on productivity loss over and above distress.ConclusionsSubstantial psychological distress was reported which impacted on productivity. High‐risk industries included Information media and telecommunications, Accommodation and food services, and Retail.

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Sickness absence and mental health: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey

Abstract: Poor mental health is a risk factor affecting work attendance, but the magnitude of this effect, at least in a country where the rate of sickness absence is relatively low, is modest.

Cited by 13 publications

References 32 publications

Within-individual analysis of pain and sickness absence among employees from low and high occupational classes: a record linkage study

Within-individual analysis of pain and sickness absence among employees from low and high occupational classes: a record linkage study

Association of Household Food Insecurity with the Mental and Physical Health of Low-Income Urban Ecuadorian Women with Children

Industry differences in psychological distress and distress-related productivity loss: A cross-sectional study of Australian workers

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