Determinants of long-term work absenteeism - The INCIT study

Abstract

Goal: The aim of this study was to evaluate the determinants of long-term absenteeism from work including socio-demographic, work-related and disease-related characteristics. Study design: Prospective case-control study Setting: Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos Study population: Individuals between 18 and 65 years of age were considered cases if they were absent from work for a period longer than 30 consecutive days. For each case, a control was selected randomly from the list of the same family physician. Material and methods: Information was gathered regarding socio-demographic and disease-related characteristics (recent surgery, psychiatric, musculoskeletal and neoplastic disease) of cases and controls. The Family APGAR and the Work Satisfaction Scale were used to evaluate family function and work satisfaction. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for gender, age and education, were computed to estimate the association between these variables and long-term work absenteeism. Results: During the study period, 76 cases were identified and 76 controls were selected. About 56% of cases and 62% of controls were men. This difference was not significant. Mean age was higher among the cases (50.0 versus 42.5; p < 0.001) and cases were less educated (p < 0.001). A higher proportion of cases had blue-collar occupations (p = 0.001) and cases had lower family APGAR scores (p = 0.008). There was higher risk of long-term absenteeism for individuals with musculoskeletal disease (OR 6.14; 95% CI 2.79 - 13.48), neoplastic disease (OR 4.62; 95% CI 1.18 - 18.08), psychiatric disease (OR 5.21; 95% CI 2.14 - 12.70) and recent surgery (OR 14.49; 95% CI 3.83 - 54.80). Conclusion: This study may help clinicians to recognize individuals at higher risk of long-term work absenteeism and enable them to apply cost-effective preventive measures to decrease the health, family and social burdens of this problem.