Sickness absence and permanent work disability in relation to upper- and lower-body pain and occupational mechanical and psychosocial exposures

Abstract

Combined pain in the upper and lower body was associated with sickness absence and permanent work disability, and high occupational mechanical exposures further increased the risk. Job strain showed a modest association with sickness absence, while low social support at work was associated with both outcomes, especially permanent work disability.

Cumulative occupational mechanical exposures during working life and risk of sickness absence and disability pension: prospective cohort study

“…Despite the possibility of over-adjustment, the risk estimates for disability pension were generally increased among the exposed compared with the non-exposed (ie, no exposure years), A somewhat similar methodological challenge was presented in a recent study by Sommer et al (20) showing that high occupational mechanical exposure per se (assessed by upper-and lower-body JEM) were associated with two-fold risk of sickness absence and a similar, but insignificant increase in the risk of permanent work disability (ie, disability pension and flexible job subsidies). They explained their statistically non-significant results on disability pension by low statistical power: during 104 weeks of follow-up, 119 participants (0.5%) were registered with transition to permanent work disability.…”

“…Specifically, factors such as heavy lifting and kneeling work have previously been related to sickness absence (6-9). To our knowledge, only one study has investigated the association between occupational mechanical exposure assessed by a JEM and labor market outcomes (20). That study observed an increased risk of LTSA among individuals with high mechanical exposure in their latest job function compared to those with low mechanical exposure.…”

“…Specifically, health problems such as musculoskeletal disorders, depression and anxiety predicts the risk of both LTSA and disability pension (20,50,51). The DREAM register holds no information on diagnoses, and we could therefore not investigate the association between specific diseases and LTSA and disability pension.…”

“…It has previously been established that poor health is an important determinant of transition into sickness absence and disability pension (20,(45)(46)(47)(48)(49). Specifically, health problems such as musculoskeletal disorders, depression and anxiety predicts the risk of both LTSA and disability pension (20,50,51).…”

“…During recent years, several JEM have been constructed to capture exposure to physical working conditions (14,16). However, only few studies have used mechanical exposure JEM, and most of these assess mechanical exposure in relation to development and consequence of different diseases or pain symptoms (14,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22).…”