Health problems and psychosocial work environment as predictors of long term sickness absence in employees who visited the occupational physician and/or general practitioner in relation to work: a prospective study

Aims: To determine whether psychosocial work environment and indicators of health problems are prospectively related to incident long term sickness absence in employees who visited the occupational physician (OP) and/or general practitioner (GP) in relation to work. Methods: The baseline measurement...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) England), 2003-04, Vol.60 (4), p.295-300
Main Authors: Andrea, H, Beurskens, A J H M, Metsemakers, J F M, van Amelsvoort, L G P M, van den Brandt, P A, van Schayck, C P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort analysis
Cohort studies
confidence interval
Decision Making
Demography
Employees
Employers
Environment
Family physicians
Family Practice
Fatigue
Female
General practice
general practitioner
Health problems
Health services
Humans
Job Satisfaction
Logistic Models
Male
Medical conditions
Medical sciences
Mental disorders
Mental illness
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Netherlands - epidemiology
Occupational Diseases - epidemiology
Occupational Diseases - psychology
Occupational disorders
Occupational health
Occupational Medicine
occupational physician
odds ratio
Office Visits - statistics & numerical data
Original
Prospective Studies
psychosocial work characteristics
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Questionnaires
Risk Factors
self reported health
Sick leave
Sick Leave - statistics & numerical data
sickness absence
Social Support
Stress, Psychological - complications
Surveys and Questionnaires
Work environment
Work environments
Working conditions
working population
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Summary:Aims: To determine whether psychosocial work environment and indicators of health problems are prospectively related to incident long term sickness absence in employees who visited the occupational physician (OP) and/or general practitioner (GP) in relation to work. Methods: The baseline measurement (May 1998) of the Maastricht Cohort Study, a prospective cohort study among 45 companies and organisations, was used to select employees at work who indicated having visited the OP and/or GP in relation to work. Self report questionnaires were used to measure indicators of health problems (presence of at least one long term disease, likeliness of having a mental illness, fatigue) and psychosocial work environment (job demands, decision latitude, social support, job satisfaction) as predictors of subsequent sickness absence. Sickness absence data regarding total numbers of sickness absence days were obtained from the companies and occupational health services during an 18 month period (between 1 July 1998 and 31 December 1999). Complete data were available from 1271 employees. Results: After adjustment for demographics and the other predictors, presence of at least one long term disease (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.29 to 4.29) and lower level of decision latitude (OR 1.69; 95% CI 1.22 to 2.38) were the strongest predictors for sickness absence of at least one month. A higher likelihood of having a mental illness, a higher level of fatigue, a lower level of social support at work, and low job satisfaction were also significant predictors for long term sickness absence, but their effect was less strong. Conclusion: In detecting employees at work but at risk for long term sickness absence, OPs and GPs should take into account not only influence of the psychosocial work environment in general and level of decision latitude in particular, but also influence of indicators of health problems, especially in the form of long term diseases.
ISSN:1351-0711
1470-7926
DOI:10.1136/oem.60.4.295