Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study

Abstract Background To investigate differences in return to work (RTW) and employment trajectories in individuals on sick leave for either mental health reasons or other health related reasons. Methods This study was based on 2036 new sickness absence cases who completed a questionnaire on social ch...

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Main Authors: Pernille Pedersen, Thomas Lund, Louise Lindholdt, Ellen A. Nohr, Chris Jensen, Hans Jørgen Søgaard, Merete Labriola
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2016-04-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-016-3017-x
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author Pernille Pedersen
Thomas Lund
Louise Lindholdt
Ellen A. Nohr
Chris Jensen
Hans Jørgen Søgaard
Merete Labriola
author_facet Pernille Pedersen
Thomas Lund
Louise Lindholdt
Ellen A. Nohr
Chris Jensen
Hans Jørgen Søgaard
Merete Labriola
author_sort Pernille Pedersen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background To investigate differences in return to work (RTW) and employment trajectories in individuals on sick leave for either mental health reasons or other health related reasons. Methods This study was based on 2036 new sickness absence cases who completed a questionnaire on social characteristics, expectations for RTW and reasons for sickness absence. They were divided into two exposure groups according to their self-reported sickness absence reason: mental health reasons or other health reasons. The outcome was employment status during the following 51 weeks and was measured both as time-to-event analysis and with sequence analysis. Results Individuals with mental health reasons for sickness absence had a higher risk of not having returned to work (RR 0.87 (0.80;0.93)). Adjusting for gender, age, education and employment did not change the estimate, however, after adding RTW expectations to the model, the excess risk was no longer present (RR 1.01 (0.95;1.08)). In relation to the sequence analysis, individuals with mental health related absence had significantly higher odds of being in the sickness absence cluster and significantly lower odds for being in the fast RTW cluster, but when adjusting for RTW expectations, the odds were somewhat attenuated and no longer significant. Conclusions Employees on sick leave due to self-reported mental health problems spent more weeks in sickness absence and temporary benefits and had a higher risk of not having returned to work within a year compared to employees on sick leave due to other health reasons. The difference could be explained by their lower RTW expectations at baseline. This emphasises the need to develop suitable and specific interventions to facilitate RTW for this group of sickness absentees.
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spelling doaj.art-2deafc45138645ee9a4c2a89bf720b0b2022-12-22T01:50:01ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582016-04-0116111010.1186/s12889-016-3017-xLabour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal studyPernille Pedersen0Thomas Lund1Louise Lindholdt2Ellen A. Nohr3Chris Jensen4Hans Jørgen Søgaard5Merete Labriola6Psychiatric Research Unit West, Regional Psychiatric Services WestPublic Health and Quality ImprovementPublic Health and Quality ImprovementInstitute of Clinical Research, University of Southern DenmarkDepartment of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyPsychiatric Research Unit West, Regional Psychiatric Services WestPublic Health and Quality ImprovementAbstract Background To investigate differences in return to work (RTW) and employment trajectories in individuals on sick leave for either mental health reasons or other health related reasons. Methods This study was based on 2036 new sickness absence cases who completed a questionnaire on social characteristics, expectations for RTW and reasons for sickness absence. They were divided into two exposure groups according to their self-reported sickness absence reason: mental health reasons or other health reasons. The outcome was employment status during the following 51 weeks and was measured both as time-to-event analysis and with sequence analysis. Results Individuals with mental health reasons for sickness absence had a higher risk of not having returned to work (RR 0.87 (0.80;0.93)). Adjusting for gender, age, education and employment did not change the estimate, however, after adding RTW expectations to the model, the excess risk was no longer present (RR 1.01 (0.95;1.08)). In relation to the sequence analysis, individuals with mental health related absence had significantly higher odds of being in the sickness absence cluster and significantly lower odds for being in the fast RTW cluster, but when adjusting for RTW expectations, the odds were somewhat attenuated and no longer significant. Conclusions Employees on sick leave due to self-reported mental health problems spent more weeks in sickness absence and temporary benefits and had a higher risk of not having returned to work within a year compared to employees on sick leave due to other health reasons. The difference could be explained by their lower RTW expectations at baseline. This emphasises the need to develop suitable and specific interventions to facilitate RTW for this group of sickness absentees.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-016-3017-xReturn to workMental disordersSick leaveRTW-expectationsSequence analysis
spellingShingle Pernille Pedersen
Thomas Lund
Louise Lindholdt
Ellen A. Nohr
Chris Jensen
Hans Jørgen Søgaard
Merete Labriola
Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study
BMC Public Health
Return to work
Mental disorders
Sick leave
RTW-expectations
Sequence analysis
title Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study
title_full Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study
title_fullStr Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study
title_full_unstemmed Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study
title_short Labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self-reported all cause morbidity—a longitudinal study
title_sort labour market trajectories following sickness absence due to self reported all cause morbidity a longitudinal study
topic Return to work
Mental disorders
Sick leave
RTW-expectations
Sequence analysis
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-016-3017-x
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