Occupational class differences in long sickness absence: a register-based study of 2.1 million Finnish women and men in 1996-2013.

Clicks: 238
ID: 19012
2017
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Popular

Ranked #335 of 442 articles by views in BMJ open

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 442 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Sickness absence is consistently higher in lower occupational classes, but attempts to analyse changes over time in socioeconomic differences are scarce. We examined trends in medically certified sickness absence by occupational class in Finland from 1996 to 2013 and assessed the magnitude and changes in absolute and relative occupational class differences.Population-based, repeated cross-sectional study.A 70% random sample of Finns aged between 25 and 63 years in the years 1996-2013.The study focused on 25- to 63 year-old female (n between 572 246 and 690 925) and male (n between 525 698 and 644 425) upper and lower non-manual and manual workers. Disability and old age pensioners, students, the unemployed, entrepreneurs and farmers were excluded. The analyses covered 2 160 084 persons, that is, 77% of the random sample.For primary and secondary outcome measures, we examined yearly prevalence of over 10 working days long sickness absence by occupational class. The Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were used to assess the magnitude and changes in occupational class differences.Compared with mid-1990s, sickness absence prevalence was slightly lower in 2013 in all occupational classes except for female lower non-manual workers. Hierarchical occupational class differences in sickness absence were found. Absolute differences (SII) peaked in 2005 in both women (0.12, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.13) and men (0.15, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.15) but reached the previous level in women by 2009 and decreased modestly in men until 2013. Relative differences narrowed over time (p<0.001) but levelled off by 2013.Sickness absence prevalence is currently slightly lower in almost all occupational classes than in the mid-1990s, but occupational class differences have remained large. Ill health and poor working conditions especially in the lower occupational classes should be targeted in order to reduce sickness absence and to achieve longer working lives.
Reference Key
pekkala2017occupationalbmj Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Pekkala, Johanna;Blomgren, Jenni;Pietiläinen, Olli;Lahelma, Eero;Rahkonen, Ossi;
Journal BMJ open
Year 2017
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014325
URL
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.