The healthy worker effect: Do health problems predict participation rates in, and the results of, a follow-up survey?

Nielsen, Morten Birkeland; Knardahl, Stein

doi:10.1007/s00420-015-1066-6

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…‘healthy worker effect’). However, recent findings from a two-wave study indicate few differences in baseline somatic and mental health problems in responders vs. non-responders 41 . Despite low education level predicting dropout, baseline associations between health and work factors remained the same in responders and non-responders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Examination of the double burden hypothesis—a systematic review of work–family conflict and sickness absence

Nilsen

Skipstein

Østby

et al. 2017

European Journal of Public Health

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Background: Women consistently have higher sickness absence than men. The double-burden hypothesis suggests this is due to higher work–family burden in women than men. The current study aimed to systematically review prospective studies of work–family conflict and subsequent sickness absence. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in the electronic databases Medline, PsycINFO, and Embase with subject heading terms and keywords with no language or time restrictions. Two reviewers independently screened abstracts and read full-texts with pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Eight included studies (n = 40 856 respondents) measure perceived work–family conflict and subsequent sickness absence. We found moderate evidence for a positive relationship between work–family conflict and subsequent sickness absence, and that women experience higher levels of work–family conflict than men. Conclusion: Work–family conflict is associated with later sickness absence, and work–family conflict is more common for women than for men. This indicates that work–family conflict may contribute to the gender gap in sick leave. However, further studies are needed to confirm whether this relationship is causal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Examination of the double burden hypothesis—a systematic review of work–family conflict and sickness absence

Nilsen

Skipstein

Østby

et al. 2017

European Journal of Public Health

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“…There was no statistical significance of SMR for increasing total and solid cancer mortality risk in uranium facility workers when combined with nuclear power plant and medicinal research (49), and the health worker effect was observed. This effect consists of three components, namely the health worker survival (17)(18)(19), health worker exposure (52)(53)(54)(55) and health worker selection (55,56) effects in occupational exposure epidemiology, and leads to the selection of a working population that is healthier compared with the general population. As a result, the observed SMR of the cancers of interest in this study was lower compared with the control population.…”

Section: Follow-up --------------------------------------------------mentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-dose ionizing radiation increases the mortality risk of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers: A meta-analysis

Gao

Tang

et al. 2018

mol clin onc

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Abstract. Low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) may increase the mortality of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers, but only few individual cohort studies exist, and the available reports have low statistical power. The aim of the present study was to focus on solid cancer mortality risk from LDIR in the nuclear industry using standard mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals. A systematic literature search through the PubMed and Embase databases identified 27 studies relevant to this meta-analysis. There was statistical significance for total, solid and lung cancers, with meta-SMR values of 0.88, 0.80, and 0.89, respectively. There was evidence of stochastic effects by IR, but more definitive conclusions require additional analyses using standardized protocols to determine whether LDIR increases the risk of solid cancer-related mortality.

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“…With help from SIA and Statistics Sweden, the following three cohorts were extracted from the study base to obtain groups with and without recent sickness absence (see also figure 1 and ref. 28 for more details): 15 April 2008 (n=6140 in the employee cohort and n=4240 in the non-employee cohort), as the survey ideally should be conducted as close as possible to the current absence episode. In the employee cohort, the total sampling frame was invited to participate (n=6140), whereas a random sample of the non-employee-sampling frame was invited (n=990).…”

Section: Target Population and Cohorts In Hapmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32 Second, the use of registries reduced common methodological problems such as recall bias and missing responses. 15 Third, since the registry data are based on financial reimbursement from the SIA, they are considered to be accurate and reliable. Finally, examining sickness absence several years before the survey is a particular advantage when studying selection by sickness absence, as the phenomenon on the one hand is common, with a 1 year cumulative incidence of 11.3% in the working population in Western Sweden in 2008 33 and, on the other hand, in some cases is prolonged and recurrent.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Linkages to administrative registries are expedient, as they enable unbiased and complete data from participants and non-participants. 15 Of the few studies having employed such data, some have found that participants have lower sickness absence rates than non-participants, in line with health selection to survey participation. 5 16-18 Others have found this among men only, 9 or report weak 19 or no 7 association between sickness absence and survey participation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Registry-based analysis of participator representativeness: a source of concern for sickness absence research?

et al. 2016

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ObjectivesSelective participation can bias results in epidemiological surveys. The importance of health status is often suggested as a possible explanation for non-participation but few empirical studies exist. In a population-based study, explicitly focused on sickness absence, health and work, we examined whether a history of high levels of sickness absence was associated with non-participation.DesignThe study is based on data from official sickness absence registers from participants, non-participants and the total target population of the baseline survey of the Health Assets Project (HAP).SettingHAP is a population-based cohort study in the Västra Götaland region in South Western Sweden.ParticipantsHAP included a random population cohort (n=7984) and 2 cohorts with recent sickness absence (employees (n=6140) and non-employees (n=990)), extracted from the same overall general working-age population.Primary outcome measuresWe examined differences in participation rates between cohorts (2008), and differences in previous sickness absence (2001–2008) between participants (individual-level data) and non-participants or the target population (group-level data) within cohorts.ResultsParticipants had statistically significant less registered sickness absence in the past than non-participants and the target population for some, but not all, of the years analysed. Yet these differences were not of substantial size. Other factors than sickness absence were more important in explaining differences in participation, whereby participants were more likely to be women, older, born in Nordic countries, married and have higher incomes than non-participants.ConclusionsAlthough specifically addressing sickness absence, having such experience did not add any substantial layer to selective participation in the present survey. Detailed measures are needed to gain a better understanding for health selection in health-related surveys such as those addressing sickness absence, for instance in order to discriminate between selection due to ability or motivation for participation.

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The healthy worker effect: Do health problems predict participation rates in, and the results of, a follow-up survey?

Cited by 22 publications

References 23 publications

Examination of the double burden hypothesis—a systematic review of work–family conflict and sickness absence

Examination of the double burden hypothesis—a systematic review of work–family conflict and sickness absence

Low-dose ionizing radiation increases the mortality risk of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers: A meta-analysis

Registry-based analysis of participator representativeness: a source of concern for sickness absence research?

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