Higher Risk Of Disability Pension Research Articles

Increased risk of long-term sickness absence, lower rate of return to work, and higher risk of unemployment and disability pensioning for thyroid patients: a Danish register-based cohort study.

Context:Little is known about how thyroid diseases affect work ability.Objective:The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of work disability for patients with thyroid disease compared with the general population.Design, Setting, and Participants:In a longitudinal register study, outpatients (n = 862) with nontoxic goiter, hyperthyroidism, Graves' orbitopathy (GO), autoimmune hypothyroidism, or other thyroid diseases and their matched controls (n = 7043) were observed in the years 1994–2011 in Danish national registers of social benefits, health, and work characteristics. Cox regression analyses estimated adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for the first year after diagnosis and subsequent years.Main Outcome Measures:Transitions between work, long-term sickness absence, unemployment, and disability pension were measured.Results:Patients differed significantly from the general population with regard to sickness absence, disability pension, return from sickness absence, and unemployment. In the first year after diagnosis, higher risks of sickness absence was seen for GO (HR 6.94) and other hyperthyroid patients (HR 2.08), who also had lower probability of returning from sickness absence (HR 0.62) and higher risk of disability pension (HR 4.15). Patients with autoimmune hypothyroidism showed a lower probability of returning from sickness absence (HR 0.62). In subsequent years, GO patients had significantly higher risk of sickness absence (HR 2.08), lower probability of return from sickness absence (HR 0.51), and unemployment (HR 0.52) and a higher risk of disability pension (HR 4.40). Hyperthyroid patients also had difficulties returning from sickness absence (HR 0.71).Conclusions:Thyroid patients' risk of work disability is most pronounced in the first year after diagnosis and attenuates in subsequent years. GO patients have the highest risk of work disability.

The obesity epidemic in the occupational health context

The obesity epidemic in the occupational health context

Municipal unemployment and municipal typologies as predictors of disability pensioning in Norway: A multilevel analysis

The rise in the number of disability pensioners in Norway has been given much attention by the government and by researchers due to the resulting financial and societal challenges entailed. Eligibility for a disability pension is decided by The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), and is closely correlated with several socioeconomic predictors. Geographical differences have also been observed in the allocations to recipients of disability pensions, and the purpose of this study was to investigate whether municipal unemployment rates and municipal typologies in Norway may explain some of the geographical variance in individual disability pensioning. 436 municipalities in Norway and all 1,507,192 Norwegian males and females between the ages of 30-55 years in 1997 were included in the analysis. Multilevel random intercept analysis was performed to assess the influence on disability pensioning of the individual factors age, education and income together with the contextual factors municipal unemployment, centrality, industry affiliation and residential density. Individuals in high unemployment municipalities had a 7-17% higher risk of disability pension. Of the total variability in disability pensioning, 2.5% for males and 1.9% for females was between municipalities. The other municipal factors had only small influences. In addition to individual socioeconomic factors, contextual factors seem to be important determinants of disability pension rates. Municipal unemployment had the greatest influence.

Women’s higher likelihood of disability pension: the role of health, family and work. A 5–7 years follow-up of the Hordaland Health Study

BackgroundWomen’s higher risk of disability pension compared with men is found in countries with high female work participation and universal welfare schemes. The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which self-perceived health, family situation and work factors explain women’s higher risk of disability pension. We also explored how these factors influenced the gender difference across educational strata.MethodsThe population-based Hordaland Health Study (HUSK) was conducted in 1997–99 and included inhabitants born in 1953–57 in Hordaland County, Norway. The current study included 5,959 men and 6,306 women in paid work with valid information on education and self-perceived health. Follow-up data on disability pension, for a period of 5–7 years, was obtained by linking the health survey to a national registry of disability pension. Cox regression analyses were employed.ResultsDuring the follow-up period 99 (1.7%) men and 230 (3.6%) women were awarded disability pension, giving a twofold risk of disability pension for women compared with men. Except for a moderate impact of self-perceived health, adjustment for family situation and work factors did not influence the gender difference in risk. Repeating the analyses in strata of education, the gender difference in risk of disability pension among the highly educated was fully explained by self-perceived health and work factors. In the lower strata of education there remained a substantial unexplained gender difference in risk.ConclusionsIn a Norwegian cohort of middle-aged men and women, self-perceived health, family situation and work factors could not explain women’s higher likelihood of disability pension. However, analyses stratified by educational level indicate that mechanisms behind the gender gap in disability pension differ by educational levels. Recognizing the heterogeneity within gender may contribute to a deeper understanding of women’s higher risk of disability pension.

Risk factors for disability pension in a population-based cohort of men and women on long-term sick leave in Sweden

Knowledge on predictors of disability pension is very limited. The aim was to assess the importance of sick-leave diagnosis and socio-demographic variables as risk factors for disability pension among individuals on long-term sickness absence and to compare these factors by gender and over time. A prospective population-based cohort study in Ostergötland County, Sweden, included 19,379 individuals who, in 1985-87, were aged 16-60 years and had a new spell of long-term sickness absence lasting > or =56 days. Follow-up was done in two time frames: 0-5 and 6-10 years after inclusion. The risk of disability pension in relation to sick-leave diagnosis and socio-demographic factors was assessed by Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. In 5 years, after inclusion, 28% of the cohort had been granted disability pension. Those with higher age, low income, previous sick leave, no employment and non-Swedish origin had higher risk of disability pension, while those with young children had lower risk. Considering the inclusion diagnosis, the pattern differed between men and women (P < 0.001). Among men, those with mental disorders had the highest risk and among women those with musculoskeletal disorders. Except for income, the effect of which was reversed over time, the overall pattern of disability pension predictors remained 6-10 years after inclusion but was attenuated. Besides socio-demographic risk factors, the sick-leave diagnoses constitute an important both medium and long-term predictor of disability pension among both men and women on long-term sickness absence.

Predictors of disability pension over a 10-year period for men and women

The number of people leaving the labour market with a disability pension is high and knowledge regarding risk factors is limited. The aim of this study was to explore work- and non-work-related predictors of disability pension among men and women and to estimate to what extent the gender difference in retirement rate could be explained by factors in and outside work. A random sample of 5,940 employees registered in the Danish National Work Environment Cohort Study in 1995 was followed up with regard to labour market status in 2005 using the DREAM register, which contains data on all social transfer payments in the Danish population. Associations between disability pension and measures of ergonomic and psychosocial work environment, public employment, family status, and lifestyle were analysed by Cox regression and the difference in retirement rates adjusted separately for each group of variables. The results showed (a) that both men and women had a higher risk of disability pension when they had work that involved standing or if they smoked; (b) that women in addition had a higher likelihood if they were public employees, had low job security, or low social support at work; (c) that the higher rate of disability pension among women compared with men could not be explained by work environmental factors, lifestyle, or family situation. Public employment was the single factor that explained most of the difference. Gender differences in exposures and predictors of disability pension were found, but few explanations of the higher rate of disability pension among women.