Abstract
BackgroundThe study objective was to evaluate the impact of a population-level intervention (the IA Agreement) on the of one-year risk for long-term sickness absence spells (LSAS) among young and middle aged workers in Norway.MethodsUsing an observational design, we conducted a quasi-experimental study to analyse registry data on individual LSAS for all employed individuals in 2000 (n = 298,690) and 2005 (n = 352,618), born in Norway between 1976 and 1967. The intervention of interest was the tripartite agreement for a more inclusive working life (the IA Agreement). We estimated difference in pre-post differences (DID) in LSAS between individuals working in IA companies with the intervention and companies without, in 2000 and 2005. We used logistic regression models and present odds ratios (DID OR) with accompanying 95% CI. We stratified analyses by sex, industry and company size.ResultsWe found no significant change in the overall risk of long-term sickness absence spells after implementing the intervention among young and middle aged workers. Stratified by sex, the intervention resulted in a slight decrease in LSAS risk among female workers (DID OR 0.93 (0.91–0.96)) while the intervention showed no impact among male workers (DID OR 1.01 (0.97–1.06)). We found that companies signing the IA Agreement were large (≥50 employees) and often within the manufacturing and health and social sectors. In large manufacturing companies, we found a reduction in LSAS, among workers both in companies with and without the intervention, resulting in no statistically significant impact of the IA intervention. In large health and social companies, we found an increase in LSAS among workers both in companies with and without the intervention. The increase was smaller among the workers in companies offering the IA intervention compared with workers in companies without, resulting in a positive impact of the IA intervention in the health and social industry. This impact was statistically significant only among female workers.ConclusionsThe results indicate that the impact of the IA Agreement on the risk of long-term sickness absence spells varies considerably depending on sex and industry. These findings suggest that reducing LSAS may warrant industry-specific interventions.
Highlights
The study objective was to evaluate the impact of a population-level intervention on the of one-year risk for long-term sickness absence spells (LSAS) among young and middle aged workers in Norway
No information was available on the specific interventions used in the companies; our analysis evaluates the total impact of working in a company that has signed the Agreement and possibly started offering workplace interventions to reduce employees’ LSAS
A higher proportion of employees in companies with Inclusive working life Agreement (IA) Agreement were female (58%) and working in large companies (70%). They were most commonly employed in health/social work (35%), manufacturing (15%) and education (14%)
Summary
The study objective was to evaluate the impact of a population-level intervention (the IA Agreement) on the of one-year risk for long-term sickness absence spells (LSAS) among young and middle aged workers in Norway. Signing an IA Agreement granted access to consulting services and subsidies to assist the companies’ work on reducing sickness absence and increasing work participation This “intervention” is a large societal investment constituting a major cost, as the budget for one year of these services has been estimated to be 38 million euros [3]. Two studies showed no impact on SA [7, 8], while more recent studies, using causal inference methods, found positive impacts with a higher probability of returning to work [9] and a lower likelihood of receiving a full disability pension [10] These studies are, done on selected samples, such as participants on work rehabilitation [9] and older employees aged 50–61 [10], highlighting the need for studies on other samples/cohorts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
