Background
Methods
Study design and population
Definition of participants with MUS and the three comparison groups
Measurement of labor market status, sickness absence, unemployment and disability pensioning at baseline
Healthy group | High-symptom- no-chronic group (MUS) | Low-symptom-chronic group | High-symptom-chronic group | Chi2-test | Chi2-test | Chi2-test | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(n = 2771) | (n = 272) | (n = 4259) | (n = 885) | Healthy vs. High-symptom- no-chronic | Healthy vs. Low-symptom-chronic | Healthy vs. High-symptom-chronic | |
% (n) | % (n) | % (n) | % (n) | ||||
Sex | |||||||
Women | 49.8 (1379) | 74.6 (203) | 55.9 (2382) | 69.4 (614) | |||
Men | 50.2 (1392) | 25.4 (69) | 44.1 (1877) | 30.6 (271) | p < 0.0001 | p < 0.0001 | p < 0.0001 |
Age | |||||||
18–29 | 21.8 (605) | 22.8 (62) | 16.8 (715) | 15.8 (140) | |||
30–39 | 25.0 (693) | 19.5 (53) | 24.1 (1027) | 18.9 (167) | |||
40–49 | 28.0 (776) | 27.6 (75) | 27.8 (1185) | 25.2 (223) | |||
50–59 | 25.2 (697) | 30.2 (82) | 31.3 (1332) | 40.1 (355) | p = 0.1319 | p < 0.0001 | p < 0.0001 |
Education | |||||||
No vocational education | 20.7 (553) | 28.9 (75) | 20.4 (836) | 27.6 (235) | |||
Short education | 14.2 (378) | 13.9 (36) | 14.0 (574) | 17.1 (146) | |||
Medium length education | 52.4 (1398) | 48.1 (125) | 52.2 (2140) | 47.8 (408) | |||
Long education | 12.7 (340) | 9.2 (24) | 13.5 (552) | 7.5 (64) | p = 0.0147 | p = 0.8566 | p < 0.0001 |
Labor market position | |||||||
Self-employed | 6.6 (181) | 4.8 (13) | 6.4 (271) | 2.9 (26) | |||
Non-manual, high grade | 13.9 (383) | 6.6 (18) | 13.5 (570) | 6.3 (56) | |||
Non-manual, intermediate grade | 15.4 (425) | 15.1 (41) | 17.1 (726) | 11.2 (99) | |||
Non-manual, low grade | 17.9 (494) | 21.0 (57) | 17.5 (129) | 14.6 (129) | |||
Manual, skilled | 15.2 (418) | 13.7 (37) | 12.0 (509) | 10.2 (90) | |||
Manual, semi-/unskilled | 12.1 (332) | 15.5 (42) | 9.6 (407) | 10.3 (91) | |||
Work on special terms | 0.5 (14) | 1.5 (4) | 2.2 (94) | 5.9 (52) | |||
Vocational training/student | 10.9 (301) | 10.3 (28) | 9.0 (382) | 7.8 (69) | |||
Out of work, on leave | 3.3 (92) | 3.0 (8) | 3.4 (145) | 2.9 (26) | |||
Out of work, sickness absence | 0.3 (9) | 1.9 (5) | 1.5 (62) | 4.3 (38) | |||
Out of work, unemployed | 3.2 (87) | 4.8 (13) | 4.1 (173) | 6.8 (60) | |||
Out of work, retired | 0.5 (14) | 1.9 (5) | 3.7 (156) | 16.7 (147) | p < 0.0001 | p < 0.0001 | p < 0.0001 |
Measurement of long-term sickness absence, unemployment and disability pensioning during follow-up
Measurement of covariates
Statistical analysis
Results
Study sample characteristics
Being out of work at baseline and sickness absence before baseline
Number | Cases % (N) | Crude OR (95 % CI) | Adjusted OR (95 % CI) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Out of work at baseline | ||||
Healthy group | 2771 | 7.40 (205) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 272 | 11.40 (31) |
1.61 (1.08–2.40)
| 1.35 (0.89–2.06) |
Low-symptom-chronic group | 4259 | 12.63 (538) |
1.81 (1.53–2.14)
|
1.71 (1.43–2.04)
|
High-symptom-chronic group | 885 | 30.62 (271) |
5.53 (4.52–6.76)
|
4.52 (3.65–5.60)
|
Six days or more of sickness absence, 12 months before baseline (self-reported) | ||||
Healthy group | 2566 | 17.42 (447) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 241 | 31.54 (76) |
2.18 (1.63–2.92)
|
2.16 (1.61–2.92)
|
Low-symptom-chronic group | 3721 | 23.68 (881) |
1.47 (1.30–1.67)
|
1.47 (1.29–1.67)
|
High-symptom-chronic group | 614 | 29.83 (256) |
3.39 (2.80–4.10)
|
3.28 (2.70–3.99)
|
Long-term sickness absence of 8 consecutive weeks, 12 months before baseline (register data) | ||||
Healthy group | 2771 | 2.06 (57) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 272 | 7.72 (21) |
3.64 (2.00–6.62)
|
3.36 (1.83–6.16)
|
Low-symptom-chronic group | 4259 | 5.56 (237) |
2.37 (1.70–3.30)
|
2.29 (1.63–3.21)
|
High-symptom-chronic group | 885 | 12.88 (114) |
6.94 (4.72–10.19)
|
6.20 (4.18–9.19)
|
Risk of long-term sickness absence, unemployment and disability pensioning during follow-up
Number | Cases % (N) | Crude RR (95 % CI) | Adjusted RR (95 % CI) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Long-term sickness absence 8 weeks | ||||
Healthy group | 2433 | 10.81 (263) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 220 | 21.36 (47) |
2.09 (1.53–2.85)
|
1.76 (1.28–2.42)
|
Low-symptom-chronic group | 3433 | 15.38 (528) |
1.46 (1.26–1.69)
|
1.38 (1.19–1.61)
|
High-symptom-chronic group | 519 | 30.44 (158) |
3.12 (2.56–3.08)
|
2.57 (2.09–3.15)
|
Unemployment 8 weeks | ||||
Healthy group | 2431 | 10.32 (251) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 224 | 14.73 (33) |
1.47 (1.02–2.11)
|
1.48 (1.02–2.15)
|
Low-symptom-chronic group | 3471 | 11.38 (395) | 1.11 (0.94–1.30) | 1.14 (0.97–1.34) |
High-symptom-chronic group | 560 | 20.89 (117) |
2.12 (1.70–2.62)
|
2.05 (1.64–2.58)
|
Disability pensioning | ||||
Healthy group | 2756 | 0.80 (22) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 267 | 2.25 (6) |
2.82 (1.14–6.96)
| 2.06 (0.77–5.52) |
Low-symptom-chronic group | 4097 | 3.05 (125) |
3.86 (2.46–6.08)
|
3.59 (2.23–5.77)
|
High-symptom-chronic group | 738 | 11.38 (84) |
14.93 (9.34–23.88)
|
12.32 (7.51–20.21)
|
Any of the three events | ||||
Healthy Group | 2367 | 18.50 (438) | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) |
High-symptom-no-chronic group (MUS) | 211 | 30.81 (65) |
1.78 (1.37–2.31)
|
1.56 (1.19–2.04)
|
Low-symptom-chronic group | 3294 | 23.53 (775) |
1.29 (1.15–1.46)
|
1.27 (1.13–1.43)
|
High-symptom-chronic group | 488 | 43.85 (214) |
2.65 (2.25–3.13)
|
2.43 (2.05–2.87)
|