Abstract
BackgroundHearing difficulties are a large public health problem. Knowledge is scarce regarding risk of disability pension among people who have been sickness absent due to these difficulties.MethodsA cohort including all 4,687,756 individuals living in Sweden in 2005, aged 20–64, and not on disability or old-age pension, was followed through 2009. Incidence rate ratios (RR) of disability pension with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models.ResultsIn multivariable models, individuals who had a sick-leave spell due to otoaudiological diagnoses in 2005 had a 1.52-fold (95% CI: 1.43–1.62) increased risk of being granted a disability pension compared to individuals on sick leave due to other diagnoses. Hearing and tinnitus sick-leave diagnoses were associated with risk of disability pension: RR 3.38, 95% CI: 3.04–3.75, and 3.30, 95% CI: 2.95–3.68, respectively. No association was observed between sick leave due to vertigo diagnoses and disability pension whereas otological diagnoses and no sick leave were inversely associated with risk of disability pension compared to non-otoaudiological sick-leave diagnoses. Sick leave due to otoaudiological diagnoses was positively associated with risk of disability pension due to otoaudiological diagnoses and sick leave due to a tinnitus diagnosis was also associated with risk of disability pension due to mental diagnoses. The risk of disability pension among individuals with hearing or tinnitus sick-leave diagnoses was highest in the age group 35–44. Moreover, men had a slightly higher risk.ConclusionThis large cohort study suggests an increased risk of disability pension among those with sickness absence due to otoaudiological diagnoses, particularly hearing and tinnitus diagnoses, compared to those with sickness absence due to non-otoaudiological diagnoses.
Highlights
Hearing difficulties are a public health concern [1] with increasing prevalence according to several studies [1,2,3,4,5]
One study examined only vertigo [9] and in the other we found that those who in 1985 had at least one new sick-leave spell due to an otoaudiological diagnosis had a higher risk of disability pension compared to individuals on sick leave due to all other diagnoses [10]
More recent and much larger, nationwide, prospective cohort study we further examine this finding, for the first time adjusting for a large variety of sociodemographic and health variables
Summary
Hearing difficulties are a public health concern [1] with increasing prevalence according to several studies [1,2,3,4,5]. Other otoaudiological diagnoses, such as vertigo and balance problems, are important health problems that might cause long-term disability and exclusion from the labor market. The larger number of individuals admits a more specific diagnosis categorization, and, in addition, further possibilities for stratifications This is the first study examining the association between sick leave due to otoaudiological diagnoses and risk of diagnosis-specific disability pension. Knowledge is scarce regarding risk of disability pension among people who have been sickness absent due to these difficulties
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