Decrease in Work Ability Index and sickness absence during the following year: a two-year follow-up study

Abstract Background Impaired work ability and reduced life satisfaction due to long-term musculoskeletal pain, particularly in neck, shoulders and back, are considered occupational health problems that can result in workers taking sick leave. The aim of the study was to determine whether work ability and life satisfaction predict return to work (RTW) among women with long-term neck/shoulder and/or back pain, and to assess the ability of the Work Ability Index (WAI) and the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LiSat-11) to discriminate between those who did RTW and those who did not RTW (NRTW). Methods This is a cohort study with 1-year follow-up. A survey was sent to 600 women receiving sick leave benefits from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. In total, 208 women responded at baseline, and 141 at a 1-year follow-up. To identify whether work ability and life satisfaction predicted RTW, multiple logistic regression analyses were performed with and without adjustment for type of work and pain intensity. To assess the discriminative ability of the WAI and the LiSat-11 for women who did RTW and those who did NRTW, receiver operating characteristic curves were fitted. Results Work ability predicted RTW, and the results remained significant after adjusting for type of work and pain intensity (OR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04–1.22). Life satisfaction was not significant. The WAI at baseline adequately discriminated between RTW and NRTW after 1 year (Area under curve 0.78, 95% CI: 0.70–0.86), but the LiSat-11 did not. Conclusions This study supports a relationship between work ability and RTW among women on sick leave for long-term neck/shoulder and/or back pain. The results indicate that the WAI, but not the LiSat-11, can discriminate between RTW and NRTW in the population under study. Although the discriminative ability of the WAI needs to be verified in new samples before it can be recommended for use in rehabilitation settings, we suggest that healthcare professionals consider how women perceive their work ability in order to better support them in their RTW.

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Work ability score and future work ability as predictors of register-based disability pension and long-term sickness absence: A three-year follow-up study

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494817745190 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 321-330 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Ulla Kinnunen ◽

Jouko Nätti

Keyword(s):

Sickness Absence ◽

Work Ability ◽

Disability Pension ◽

Negative Binomial ◽

Work Ability Index ◽

Rate Ratios ◽

Future Work ◽

Work Ability Score

Aims: We investigated two single items of the Work Ability Index – work ability score, and future work ability – as predictors of register-based disability pension and long-term sickness absence over a three-year follow-up. Methods: Survey responses of 11,131 Finnish employees were linked to pension and long-term (more than 10 days) sickness absence register data by Statistics Finland. Work ability score was divided into poor (0–5), moderate (6–7) and good/excellent (8–10) and future work ability into poor (1–2) and good (3) work ability at baseline. Cox proportional hazard regressions were used in the analysis of disability pension, and a negative binomial model in the analysis of long-term sickness absence. The results were adjusted for several background, work- and health-related covariates. Results: Compared with those with good/excellent work ability scores, the hazard ratios of disability pension after adjusting for all covariates were 9.84 (95% CI 6.68–14.49) for poor and 2.25 (CI 95% 1.51–3.35) for moderate work ability score. For future work ability, the hazard ratio was 8.19 (95% CI 4.71–14.23) among those with poor future work ability. The incidence rate ratios of accumulated long-term sickness absence days were 3.08 (95% CI 2.19–4.32) and 1.59 (95% CI 1.32–1.92) for poor and moderate work ability scores, and 1.51 (95% CI 0.97–2.36) for poor future work ability. Conclusions: The single items of work ability score and future work ability predicted register-based disability pension equally well, but work ability score was a better predictor of register-based long-term sickness absence days than future work ability in a three-year follow-up. Both items seem to be of use especially when examining the risk of poor work ability for disability but also for long sick leave.

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Work ability index of young employees and their sickness absence during the following year

Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health ◽

10.5271/sjweh.979 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 75-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Veikko Kujala ◽

Tuija Tammelin ◽

Jouko Remes ◽

Elina Vammavaara ◽

Ellen Ek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sickness Absence ◽

Work Ability ◽

Work Ability Index ◽

Ability Index

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Do work ability and well-being matter for return to work? Cut-off points for the Work Ability Index and Life Satisfaction Questionnaire among women with long-term musculoskeletal pain

10.21203/rs.3.rs-45411/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mamunur Rashid ◽

Marina Heiden ◽

Annika Nilsson ◽

Marja-leena Kristofferzon

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Back Pain ◽

Return To Work ◽

Work Ability ◽

Well Being ◽

Work Ability Index ◽

Satisfaction Questionnaire ◽

Ability Index

Abstract Background To determine whether work ability and well-being predict return to work (RTW) among women with long-term neck/shoulder and/or back pain at 1-year follow-up, and to assess the ability of the Work Ability Index (WAI) and Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LiSat-11) to discriminate between those who did RTW and those who did not RTW (NRTW). Methods A survey was sent to 600 women receiving sick leave (SL) benefits from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. In total, 208 women responded at baseline, and 141 at a 1-year follow-up. To identify whether work ability and well-being predicted RTW, multiple logistic regression analyses were performed with and without adjustment for type of work and pain intensity. To assess the discriminative ability of the WAI and LiSat-11 for women who did RTW and those who did NRTW, receiver operating characteristic curves were fitted. Results Work ability predicted RTW, and the results remained significant after adjusting for type of work and pain intensity (OR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04–1.22). Well-being was not significant. The WAI at baseline adequately discriminated between RTW and NRTW after one year (AUC 0.78, 95% CI: 0.70–0.86), but the LiSat-11 did not. Conclusions Our results indicate that work ability is an important factor for RTW among women on SL for long-term neck/shoulder and/or back pain. The findings also indicate that the WAI, but not the LiSat-11, is able to discriminate between RTW and NRTW in the population under study. The WAI may be used to identify women at risk of NRTW.

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Predictive validity of the Work Ability Index and its individual items in the general population

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494817702759 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 350-356 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Andreas Lundin ◽

Ola Leijon ◽

Marjan Vaez ◽

Mats Hallgren ◽

Margareta Torgén

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Sickness Absence ◽

Predictive Validity ◽

Work Ability ◽

Characteristic Curve ◽

Predictive Ability ◽

Current Work ◽

Work Ability Index ◽

Work Impairment ◽

Ability Index

Aim: This study assesses the predictive ability of the full Work Ability Index (WAI) as well as its individual items in the general population. Methods: The Work, Health and Retirement Study (WHRS) is a stratified random national sample of 25–75-year-olds living in Sweden in 2000 that received a postal questionnaire ( n = 6637, response rate = 53%). Current and subsequent sickness absence was obtained from registers. The ability of the WAI to predict long-term sickness absence (LTSA; ⩾ 90 consecutive days) during a period of four years was analysed by logistic regression, from which the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUC) was computed. Results: There were 313 incident LTSA cases among 1786 employed individuals. The full WAI had acceptable ability to predict LTSA during the 4-year follow-up (AUC = 0.79; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.82). Individual items were less stable in their predictive ability. However, three of the individual items: current work ability compared with lifetime best, estimated work impairment due to diseases, and number of diagnosed current diseases, exceeded AUC > 0.70. Excluding the WAI item on number of days on sickness absence did not result in an inferior predictive ability of the WAI. Conclusions: The full WAI has acceptable predictive validity, and is superior to its individual items. For public health surveys, three items may be suitable proxies of the full WAI; current work ability compared with lifetime best, estimated work impairment due to diseases, and number of current diseases diagnosed by a physician.

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The Association Between Self-Assessed Future Work Ability and Long-Term Sickness Absence, Disability Pension and Unemployment in a General Working Population: A 7-Year Follow-Up Study

Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation ◽

10.1007/s10926-015-9603-4 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 195-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

A. Lundin ◽

K. Kjellberg ◽

O. Leijon ◽

L. Punnett ◽

T. Hemmingsson

Keyword(s):

Sickness Absence ◽

Work Ability ◽

Disability Pension ◽

Working Population ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

Future Work

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HUBUNGAN KEMAMPUAN KERJA DAN ANGKA MANGKIR KERJA KARYAWAN HOTEL BINTANG TIGA BAGIAN HOUSEKEEPING DI DENPASAR

Jurnal Ergonomi Indonesia (The Indonesian Journal of Ergonomic) ◽

10.24843/jei.2016.v02.i01.p02 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Renaldi Prasetio ◽

Nyoman Adiputra

Keyword(s):

Sickness Absence ◽

Work Ability ◽

Work Absence ◽

Work Ability Index ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Hotel Employees ◽

Spearman Correlation Test ◽

Ability Index ◽

Good Workability

The work ability of employees and work absence is important in nowday's. These things need to be considered to achieve good service quality, especially the hotel employees at housekeeping department. Employees task at housekeeping department is very important, especially for the comfort and cleanliness of the hotel. The employees with good workability and low work absence will certainly improve the quality of service of the hotel. The purpose of the research was to find out the correlation between work ability and work absence among 3-star hotel employees at housekeeping department at Denpasar. This research was using a cross-sectional analytic study. The number of respondents were 31 people consisting of 3-star hotel employees at housekeeping department atDenpasar. The respondents were asked to fill Work Ability Index and mention work absence in the past year. Tables are used to show the results of the study and analyzed using the Spearman correlation test. The research showed that the average of work ability is 41.48, sickness absence and off work are 3.74 and 11.22. There was significant correlation between work ability andnumber of a sickness absence (p=0.006). While the work ability and number off work have no correlation (p=0.461). It can be concluded that work ability and sickness absence have a correlation but there was no correlation between work ability and off work among 3-star hotel employeesat housekeeping section. It may suggest to implementing regular training to improve employability in an effort to decrease sickness absence

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Prediction tools for sickness absenteeism

International Journal of Workplace Health Management ◽

10.1108/ijwhm-05-2014-0017 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 142-151

Author(s):

Georgios Merekoulias ◽

Evangelos C Alexopoulos

Keyword(s):

Sickness Absence ◽

Work Ability ◽

Health Personnel ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Categorical Variables ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Work Ability Index ◽

Sickness Absenteeism ◽

Content Type ◽

Ability Index

Purpose – Bradford formula (index) or factor (BF) was originally designed for use as part of the overall investigation and management of absenteeism. Work ability index (WAI) is an instrument that has been used to evaluate work ability. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate retrospectively, the properties of the WAI, the BF and their combination – the sickness absence probability factor – in predicting future sickness absence. Design/methodology/approach – Data on sickness absences of shipyard employees for the period 2002-2006 were utilized for the calculation of the relevant BFs. The Greek version of the WAI questionnaire was also used. The sickness absence probability factor was calculated by summing up the scores of the two other tools, after transforming them into categorical variables. Findings – Increased BF values are positively and strongly correlated to increased sickness absenteeism levels in the following years (p<0.001), especially for the immediate following years. WAI score is also strongly negatively correlated to absence. The combination of BF and WAI acted even better. Originality/value – The use of tools, like the BF and the suggested sickness probability factor, should be considered by occupational health personnel in order to act proactively on sickness absenteeism, since they were found to be related to future absenteeism. Actions should follow health and safety rules and ethics and should be undertaken by competent health personnel.

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