Background
Study aim
Methods
Study design and population
Measurements
Self-reported sickness absence
Self assessed prognosis of work ability
Psychosocial factors
Self-reported previous low back and/or neck pain
Covariates
Statistical analysis
Ethical aspects
Results
Characteristics of the study population
Variable | Total (n) | Frequency (%) | Mean (95% CI) |
---|---|---|---|
Sex | 341 | . | . |
Women | . | 153 (44.9%) | . |
Men | . | 188 (55.1%) | . |
Age (in years) | 341 | . | 52.35 (51.84-52.86) |
Occupation (SES) | 337 | . | . |
Non manual | . | 185 (54.9%) | . |
Manual | . | 112 (33.2%) | . |
Self-employed | . | 40 (11.9%) | . |
Smoking, current | 332 | 69 (20.8%) | . |
BMI (kg/m2) | 340 | . | 26.11 (25.70-26.52) |
Alcohol consumption | 325 | . | . |
Lowa
| . | 264 (81.2%) | . |
Mediumb
| . | 36 (11.1%) | . |
Highc
| . | 25 (7.7%) | . |
Disease (self report of diagnosis) | 341 | 171 (50.2%) | . |
Previous back pain | 330 | 219 (66.4%) | . |
"Poor" work ability | 278 | 56 (20.1%) | . |
Sickness absence spells at baseline† | 341 | . | 0.47 (0.39-0.55) |
Sickness absence spells at follow-up‡ | 340 | . | 0.49 (0.42-0.56) |
Sickness absence days at baseline† | 335 | . | 6.59 (4.83-8.35) |
Sickness absence days at follow-up‡ | 340 | . | 6.96 (5.09-8.83) |
Descriptive statistics | Factor loadingsb
| ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
α | n | Mean | SD | I | II | III | |
% variance explained | 19.4 | 13.2 | 31.6 | ||||
Psychosocial scales, No. of items (score range) | |||||||
I Work environment | |||||||
Job strain | . | 324 | 0.70 | 0.17 | 0.69 | . | . |
Psychological demandsa, 5 (5-20) | 0.69 | 327 | 13.11 | 2.51 | . | . | . |
Decision latitudea, 6 (6-24) | 0.63 | 338 | 18.96 | 2.58 | . | . | . |
Social support at work, 6 (6-24) | 0.82 | 319 | 18.16 | 2.06 | - 0.64 | . | . |
Overcommitment, 6 (6-24) | 0.83 | 330 | 13.17 | 4.26 | 0.76 | . | . |
II Emotional support | |||||||
Emotional support, 6 (0-6) | 0.79 | 338 | 5.52 | 1.13 | . | 0.94 | . |
III Psychological resources | |||||||
1. Sense of coherence, 13 (13-91) | 0.80 | 338 | 69.00 | 9.28 | . | . | 0.78 |
2. Mastery, 7 (7-28) | 0.75 | 331 | 23.33 | 3.05 | . | . | 0.83 |
3. Self-esteem, 10 (10-40) | 0.87 | 329 | 32.96 | 4.60 | . | . | 0.84 |
4. Perceived control, 11 (11-66) | 0.68 | 312 | 53.00 | 7.05 | . | . | 0.64 |
Prospective impact of psychosocial factors and previous back pain on self-reported sickness absence
Characteristic | Age and sex adjusted (Model I)†
| Adjusted for the final model (Model III)‡
| ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | RR | 95% CI | n | RR | 95% CI | |
Occupation (SES) | ||||||
Non-manual | 184 | 1 [ref] | . | . | . | . |
Manual | 112 | 1.18 | 0.89-1.57 | . | . | . |
Self-employed | 40 |
0.28
|
0.12-0.62
| . | . | . |
Smoking, current | 331 | 0.79 | 0.55-1.15 | . | . | . |
BMI | 339 | 1.01 | 0.97-1.05 | . | . | . |
Alcohol consumption | ||||||
Lowa
| 263 | 1 [ref] | ||||
Mediumb
| 36 |
0.41
|
0.21-0.83
| . | . | . |
Highc
| 25 | 0.65 | 0.34-1.26 | . | . | . |
Disease (self report diagnosis) | 340 |
1.38
|
1.04-1.83
| . | . | . |
Past sickness absence | 340 |
1.36
|
1.21-1.51
| . | . | . |
I Work environment | ||||||
Job strain | 323 |
2.28
|
1.01-5.15
| 298 | 1.50 | 0.67-3.40 |
Psychological demands | 326 | 1.02 | 0.96-1.08 | 299 | 1.03 | 0.97-1.09 |
Decision latitude | 337 | 0.95 | 0.90-1.00 | 309 | 1.00 | 0.95-1.07 |
Social support at work | 318 | 0.95 | 0.88-1.01 | 289 | 0.96 | 0.89-1.02 |
Overcommitment | 329 | 1.00 | 0.97-1.03 | 300 | 1.02 | 0.98-1.05 |
II Emotional support | 337 |
1.42
|
1.14-1.77
| 307 |
1.41
|
1.12-1.76
|
III Psychological resources | ||||||
1. Sense of coherence | 337 | 0.99 | 0.97-1.00 | 308 | 1.00 | 0.98-1.01 |
2. Mastery | 330 | 0.96 | 0.92-1.01 | 300 | 0.99 | 0.94-1.04 |
3. Self-esteem | 328 |
0.96
|
0.93-0.99
| 299 | 0.98 | 0.95-1.01 |
4. Perceived control | 311 | 0.99 | 0.97-1.01 | 285 | 1.00 | 0.98-1.03 |
Previous back pain | 329 | 0.94 | 0.69-1.28 | 301 | 0.83 | 0.61-1.13 |
Characteristic | Age and sex adjusted (Model I)†
| Adjusted for the final model (Model III)‡
| ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | RR | 95% CI | n | RR | 95% CI | |
Occupation (SES) | ||||||
Non-manual | 184 | 1 [ref] | . | . | . | . |
Manual | 112 | 1.43 | 0.98-2.07 | . | . | . |
Self-employed | 40 |
0.32
|
0.12-0.89
| . | . | . |
Smoking, current | 331 | 1.14 | 0.74-1.78 | . | . | . |
BMI | 339 | 1.03 | 0.98-1.07 | . | . | . |
Alcohol consumption | ||||||
Lowa
| 263 | 1 [ref] | . | . | . | . |
Mediumb
| 36 |
0.18
|
0.05-0.64
| . | . | . |
Highc
| 25 | 0.80 | 0.37-1.71 | . | . | . |
Disease (self report diagnosis) | 340 |
1.83
|
1.25-2.67
| . | . | . |
Past sickness absence | 334 |
1.01
|
1.01-1.02
| . | . | . |
I Work environment | ||||||
Job strain | 323 |
3.09
|
1.05-9.07
| 293 | 1.16 | 0.38-3.53 |
Psychological demands | 326 | 1.00 | 0.93-1.07 | 294 | 0.97 | 0.90-1.05 |
Decision latitude | 337 |
0.91
|
0.85-0.98
| 303 | 0.97 | 0.90-1.05 |
Social support at work | 318 | 0.93 | 0.85-1.02 | 283 | 0.97 | 0.88-1.07 |
Overcommitment | 329 | 0.99 | 0.95-1.04 | 294 | 0.98 | 0.93-1.02 |
II Emotional support | 337 |
1.51
|
1.11-2.05
| 301 |
1.74
|
1.21-2.51
|
III Psychological resources | ||||||
1. Sense of coherence | 337 | 0.99 | 0.97-1.01 | 302 | 1.01 | 0.99-1.04 |
2. Mastery | 330 | 1.00 | 0.94-1.06 | 294 | 1.07 | 1.00-1.15 |
3. Self-esteem | 328 |
0.94
|
0.90-0.97
| 293 | 0.98 | 0.94-1.02 |
4. Perceived control | 311 | 1.02 | 0.99-1.05 | 280 |
1.05
|
1.02-1.09
|
Previous back pain | 329 |
1.74
|
1.11-2.72
| 295 | 1.43 | 0.92-2.22 |
Variables | Sick-leave spellsb
| Sick-leave daysb
| Poor work abilityc
|
---|---|---|---|
RRa (95% CI) | RRa (95% CI) | ORa (95% CI) | |
I Work environment | 1.09 (0.95-1.25) | 1.00 (0.84-1.19) | 1.39 (0.98-1.98) |
II Emotional support | 1.36 (1.11-1.67)** | 1.68 (1.22-2.31)** | 1.58 (1.02-2.46)* |
III Psychological resources | 0.96 (0.82-1.11) | 1.15 (0.94-1.41) | 0.62 (0.44-0.89)** |
Previous back pain | 0.82 (0.60-1.11) | 1.38 (0.89-2.13) | 2.56 (1.13-5.81)* |
Prospective impact of psychosocial factors and previous back pain on self assessed prognosis of poor work ability
Characteristic | Age and sex adjusted (Model I)†
| Adjusted for the final model (Model III)‡
| ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | OR | 95% CI | n | OR | 95% CI | |
Occupation (SES) | ||||||
Non-manual | 185 | 1 [ref] | . | . | . | . |
Manual | 112 |
2.56
|
1.35-4.87
| . | . | . |
Self-employed | 40 | 1.27 | 0.44-3.68 | . | . | . |
Smoking, current | 332 | 1.46 | 0.73-2.90 | . | . | . |
BMI | 340 |
1.11
|
1.04-1.20
| . | . | . |
Alcohol consumption | ||||||
Lowa
| 264 | 1 [ref] | . | . | . | . |
Mediumb
| 36 | 0.91 | 0.33-2.55 | . | . | . |
Highc
| 25 | 2.33 | 0.84-6.51 | . | . | . |
Disease (self rep.diagnosis) | 341 | 1.09 | 0.61-1.96 | . | . | . |
Past sickness absence | 340 |
2.37
|
1.28-4.40
| . | . | . |
I Work environment | ||||||
Job strain | 324 |
14.85
|
2.54-86.69
| 298 |
11.71
|
1.69-81.01
|
Psychological demands | 327 | 1.07 | 0.95-1.21 | 299 | 1.07 | 0.93-1.22 |
Decision latitude | 338 |
0.84
|
0.75-0.94
| 309 |
0.83
|
0.73-0.95
|
Social support at work | 319 | 0.88 | 0.76-1.02 | 289 | 0.88 | 0.75-1.04 |
Overcommitment | 330 | 1.00 | 0.94-1.07 | 300 | 1.05 | 0.97-1.14 |
II Emotional support | 338 | 1.28 | 0.90-1.81 | 307 | 1.28 | 0.89-1.86 |
III Psychological resources | ||||||
1. Sense of coherence | 338 |
0.96
|
0.93-0.99
| 308 | 0.97 | 0.93-1.00 |
2. Mastery | 331 |
0.86
|
0.78-0.95
| 300 |
0.84
|
0.76-0.94
|
3. Self-esteem | 329 |
0.90
|
0.85-0.96
| 299 |
0.91
|
0.85-0.98
|
4. Perceived control | 312 |
0.95
|
0.91-0.99
| 285 | 0.97 | 0.92-1.01 |
Previous back pain | 330 |
2.78
|
1.31-5.92
| 301 |
2.62
|
1.18-5.84
|