Sickness Absence and Sickness Presence Among Health and Care Employees in Sweden – Health Complaints, Health Behavior, and Future Long-Term Sickness Absence

2021 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Helgesson ◽  
Klas Gustafsson ◽  
Staffan Marklund ◽  
Gunnar Aronsson ◽  
Constanze Leineweber
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Sickness Presence

scholarly journals Favorable Working Conditions Related to Health Behavior Among Nurses and Care Assistants in Sweden—A Population-Based Cohort Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Helgesson ◽  
Staffan Marklund ◽  
Klas Gustafsson ◽  
Gunnar Aronsson ◽  
Constanze Leineweber
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Risk Behavior ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Psychosocial Working Conditions ◽  
Sickness Presence ◽  
Recovery Behavior

Objective: To analyze the associations between favorable physical and psychosocial work factors and health behavior among healthcare employees (nurses and care assistants) with health complaints.Methods: The study was based on seven iterations (2001–2013) of a biennial Swedish work environment survey linked with data from public registers. In all, 7,180 healthcare employees, aged 16–64 years, who had reported health complaints, were included. Health behavior was operationalized through four combinations of sickness absence (SA) and sickness presence (SP): ‘good health behavior' (Low SP/Low SA), ‘recovery behavior' (Low SP/High SA), ‘risk behavior' (High SP/Low SA), and ‘poor health behavior' (High SP/High SA). Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by multinomial logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, those who rarely worked in strenuous postures had an increased probability of having ‘good health behavior' (OR range: nurses 1.72–2.02; care assistants 1.46–1.75). Those who rarely experienced high job demands had increased odds for having ‘good health behavior' (OR: nurses 1.81; OR range: care assistants 1.67–2.13), while having good job control was found to be related to ‘good health behavior' only among care assistants (OR range 1.30–1.68). In the full model, after also considering differences in health, none of the work environment indicators affected ‘good health behavior' among nursing professionals. Among care assistants, rarely having heavy physical work and having low psychosocial demands remained significantly associated with ‘good health behavior' (OR range: 1.24–1.58) and ‘recovery behavior' (OR range: 1.33–1.70). No associations were found between favorable work environment factors and ‘risk behavior' among the two groups of employees. However, positive assessments of the work situation were associated with ‘good health behavior,' even after controlling for all confounders for both groups (OR range: 1.43–2.69).Conclusions: ‘Good health behavior' and ‘recovery behavior' among care assistants were associated with favorable physical and psychosocial working conditions even when health was considered. This implies that reduced sickness presence and sickness absence among care assistants can be achieved through improved physical and psychosocial working conditions.

scholarly journals Exploring expected and perceived facilitators and barriers of an indicated prevention strategy to prevent future long-term sickness absence; a qualitative study among employers and employees

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie H. Klasen ◽  
Ludovic G. P. M. van Amelsvoort ◽  
Inge Houkes ◽  
Nicole W. H. Jansen ◽  
IJmert Kant
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Early Treatment ◽  
Prevention Strategy ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Health Culture ◽  
Indicated Prevention ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Facilitators And Barriers

Abstract Background An indicated prevention strategy (IPS), consisting of a screening questionnaire and early treatment, was found to be effective for the prevention of future long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in two large Dutch RCT’s. This IPS aims to detect employees who have a high risk to become absent, and subsequently offer them early treatment. Despite the overall effectiveness, only a few companies have implemented this strategy so far. This suggests that companies may not be convinced of the (cost) effectiveness of this strategy yet. In companies where IPS has been implemented, screenings uptake and adherence to early treatment appeared to be moderate, indicating that both employees and employers might perceive barriers. Methods The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the expected and perceived facilitators and barriers for the implementation of the IPS. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 employers and 11 employees (acquainted and unacquainted with IPS) from large companies. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Results The employers believed they were primarily responsible for psychological and work-related health complaints and SA, while the employees felt responsible for health complaints related to their lifestyle. According to the employees, the responsibility of the employer was solely related to work-related health. This finding exposed a relation with the health culture, which was solely based on creating a safe work environment, omitting psychological health issues. The efficacy of this IPS regarding reducing SA was estimated positive, however, the efficacy regarding LTSA was questioned. Fear of a privacy breach was often mentioned by the respondents as an important barrier. Conclusions This study showed that the health culture within a company may be important for the perceived responsibility towards SA and health. A health culture which primarily focuses on physical complaints may raise barriers for the adoption and implementation of this preventive strategy. Participant’ perceptions of the nature of LTSA and the fact that not all participants were familiar with the exact content and phasing of IPS may have doubted the efficacy regarding LTSA. This study provides important clues for future and improved implementation of IPS.

scholarly journals Predicting return to work after long-term sickness absence with subjective health complaints: a prospective cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristel H. N. Weerdesteijn ◽  
Frederieke Schaafsma ◽  
Karin Bonefaas-Groenewoud ◽  
Martijn Heymans ◽  
Allard Van der Beek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Return To Work ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Prospective Cohort Study ◽  
Prospective Cohort ◽  
Subjective Health ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Subjective Health Complaints

Economic Impact of Lifestyle Behaviour and Quality of Sleep on Long-Term Sickness Absence

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noora Kanerva ◽  
Paulus Torkki ◽  
Ossi Rahkonen ◽  
Johanna Pekkala ◽  
Olli Pietiläinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impact ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Quality Of Sleep ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviour

scholarly journals Behavioral medicine challenges in the shadow of a global pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa T Brooks ◽  
Hannah K Allen ◽  
Louise Thornton ◽  
Tracy Trevorrow
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Future Data ◽  
Short And Long Term

Abstract Health behavior researchers should refocus and retool as it becomes increasingly clear that the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic surpass the direct effects of COVID-19 and include unique, drastic, and ubiquitous consequences for health behavior. The circumstances of the pandemic have created a natural experiment, allowing researchers focusing on a wide range of health behaviors and populations with the opportunity to use previously collected and future data to study: (a) changes in health behavior prepandemic and postpandemic, (b) health behavior prevalence and needs amidst the pandemic, and (c) the effects of the pandemic on short- and long-term health behavior. Our field is particularly challenged as we attempt to consider biopsychosocial, political, and environmental factors that affect health and health behavior. These realities, while daunting, should call us to action to refocus and retool our research, prevention, and intervention efforts

scholarly journals How intensive longitudinal data can stimulate advances in health behavior maintenance theories and interventions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve F Dunton ◽  
Alexander J Rothman ◽  
Adam M Leventhal ◽  
Stephen S Intille
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Health Behavior Change ◽  
Noncommunicable Disease ◽  
Time Activity ◽  
Intensive Longitudinal Data ◽  
Reflective Systems ◽  
Behavior Maintenance

Abstract Interventions that promote long-term maintenance of behaviors such as exercise, healthy eating, and avoidance of tobacco and excessive alcohol are critical to reduce noncommunicable disease burden. Theories of health behavior maintenance tend to address reactive (i.e., automatic) or reflective (i.e., deliberative) decision-making processes, but rarely both. Progress in this area has been stalled by theories that say little about when, why, where, and how reactive and reflective systems interact to promote or derail a positive health behavior change. In this commentary, we discuss factors influencing the timing and circumstances under which an individual may shift between the two systems such as (a) limited availability of psychological assets, (b) interruption in exposure to established contextual cues, and (c) lack of intrinsic or appetitive motives. To understand the putative factors that regulate the interface between these systems, research methods are needed that are able to capture properties such as (a) fluctuation over short periods of time, (b) change as a function of time, (c) context dependency, (d) implicit and physiological channels, and (e) idiographic phenomenology. These properties are difficult to assess with static, cross-sectional, laboratory-based, or retrospective research methods. We contend that intensive longitudinal data (ILD) collection and analytic strategies such as smartphone and sensor-based real-time activity and location monitoring, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), machine learning, and systems modeling are well-positioned to capture and interpret within-person shifts between reactive and reflective systems underlying behavior maintenance. We conclude with examples of how ILD can accelerate the development of theories and interventions to sustain health behavior over the long term.

scholarly journals Does workplace social capital protect against long-term sickness absence? Linking workplace aggregated social capital to sickness absence registry data

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Sophie K. Hansen ◽  
Ida E. H. Madsen ◽  
Sannie Vester Thorsen ◽  
Ole Melkevik ◽  
Jakob Bue Bjørner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Collective Good ◽  
Standard Deviation Increase ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Adjusted Model ◽  
Workplace Social Capital

Aims: Most previous prospective studies have examined workplace social capital as a resource of the individual. However, literature suggests that social capital is a collective good. In the present study we examined whether a high level of workplace aggregated social capital (WASC) predicts a decreased risk of individual-level long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in Danish private sector employees. Methods: A sample of 2043 employees (aged 18–64 years, 38.5% women) from 260 Danish private-sector companies filled in a questionnaire on workplace social capital and covariates. WASC was calculated by assigning the company-averaged social capital score to all employees of each company. We derived LTSA, defined as sickness absence of more than three weeks, from a national register. We examined if WASC predicted employee LTSA using multilevel survival analyses, while excluding participants with LTSA in the three months preceding baseline. Results: We found no statistically significant association in any of the analyses. The hazard ratio for LTSA in the fully adjusted model was 0.93 (95% CI 0.77–1.13) per one standard deviation increase in WASC. When using WASC as a categorical exposure we found a statistically non-significant tendency towards a decreased risk of LTSA in employees with medium WASC (fully adjusted model: HR 0.78 (95% CI 0.48–1.27)). Post hoc analyses with workplace social capital as a resource of the individual showed similar results. Conclusions: WASC did not predict LTSA in this sample of Danish private-sector employees.

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