Does job stress mediate the risk of work disability due to common mental disorders among social workers compared with other health and social care, education, and non-human service professionals? A prospective cohort study of public sector employees in Finland.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate (i) the risk of work disability (>10-day sickness absence spell or disability pension) due to common mental disorders (CMD) among social workers compared with other health and social care, education, and non-human service professionals and (ii) whether the risk was mediated by job stress. METHODS: A cohort of 16 306 public sector professionals in Finland was followed using survey data from baseline (2004 or if not available, 2008) on job stress [job strain or effort-reward imbalance (ERI)] and register data on work disability due to CMD from baseline through 2011. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the risk of work disability due to CMD between three occupation-pairs in a counterfactual setting, controlling for age, sex, job contract, body mass index, alcohol risk use, smoking, and physical inactivity. RESULTS: Social workers' job stress was at higher level only when compared to education professionals. Thus, the mediation hypothesis was analyzed comparing social workers to education professionals. Social workers had a higher risk of work disability due to CMD compared with education professionals [hazard ratio (HR) 2.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.58-2.74]. This HR was partly mediated by job strain (24%) and ERI (12%). Social workers had a higher risk of work disability than non-human service professionals (HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.13-2.09), but not compared with other health and social care professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Job stress partly mediated the excess risk of work disability among social workers only in comparison with education professionals.

Long-term diagnosis-specific sickness absence, disability pension, and healthcare use in 1305 young adult childhood cancer survivors and in 6430 references; a Swedish ten-year prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at high risk of chronic health conditions. We aimed to explore young adult CCS' and matched references' future diagnoses-specific healthcare use, sickness absence (SA), and disability pension (DP). METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study with microdata from seven nationwide Swedish registers. We included 1305 young adult CCS born 1983-1988 and living in Sweden in 2008 and 6430 matched references and followed them for ten years (2009-2018) regarding mean annual specialized outpatient visits, inpatient days, and SA (spells >14 days) and/or DP (SADP) days, overall and by eight diagnostic groups. Risk factors for >90 SADP days in 2018 were explored as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) by adjusted logistic regression. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of CCS and 90% of references did not have SADP in the ten-year follow-up. Mean SADP days/year was higher among CCS (40-50 days/year), particularly in CNS tumor survivors (76-83 days/year), compared to references (12-18 days/year). Most SADP days were DP days. CCS had more mean outpatient visits (1.6-1.8 visits/year) and inpatient days (0.8-1.7 days/year) than references (0.8-1.2 visits/year and 0.6-0.75 days/year, respectively). The main healthcare use and SADP diagnoses were neoplasms and psychiatric disorders among all CCS, along with nervous system and endocrine conditions among CNS tumor survivors. The risk of SADP >90 days in 2018 was higher among female compared to male CCS (OR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.67-3.32), those with elementary schooling compared to high school/university education (OR = 6.52, 95% CI 4.49-9.49), and survivors of CNS tumors compared to other malignancies (OR hematological versus CNS = 2.88, 95% CI 1.95-4.28; OR hematological versus non-CNS solid tumors = 0.71, 95% CI 0.45-1.09). CONCLUSIONS: Most CCS did not have SADP as young adults; nevertheless, their risk of SADP was higher than among matched references. CNS tumor survivors were at particularly high risk of SADP.

Sickness absence and disability pension trajectories in childhood cancer survivors and references- a Swedish prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors are at high risk of chronic health conditions. We aimed to explore future long-term sickness absence and disability pension in young adult childhood cancer survivors and matched references. METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study using microdata from five Swedish nationwide registers. Among all individuals born 1976-1998 and living in Sweden, we included 3632 childhood cancer survivors and 17,468 matched references that could be followed-up for 15, 10, or 5 years, respectively. A group-based trajectory model was applied to identify trajectories of mean annual sickness absence and/or disability pension days (SADP) in each sub-cohort, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Potential risk factors for trajectory belonging were explored using χ2 test and multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Most young adult childhood cancer survivors (90.2-96.5%) and references (97.4-98.8%) followed a No SADP trajectory. A larger proportion of childhood cancer survivors than references followed a Moderate (33-102 days/year) or High (115-260 days/year) SADP trajectory (15-year follow-up cohorts: Moderate 4.6% versus 1.2%; High 5.1% versus 1.5%). Childhood cancer survivors of central nervous system (CNS) tumors were at higher risk of the High SADP trajectory than childhood cancer survivors of hematological or non-CNS solid tumors (hematological versus CNS: odds ratio = 2.30, 95% CI 1.23-4.30; hematological versus non-CNS: odds ratio = 0.32, 95% CI 0.13-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: Although most young adult childhood cancer survivors had no SADP during follow-up, 9.7% experienced moderate or high numbers of SADP days/year throughout the 15-year follow-up; compared to 2.7% among references. CNS tumor survivors were at particular risk of SADP long-term and need extra attention in their future work prospect.

Work stress and loss of years lived without chronic disease: an 18-year follow-up of 1.5 million employees in Denmark.

We aimed to examine the association between exposure to work stress and chronic disease incidence and loss of chronic disease-free life years in the Danish workforce. The study population included 1,592,491 employees, aged 30-59 in 2000 and without prevalent chronic diseases. We assessed work stress as the combination of job strain and effort-reward imbalance using job exposure matrices. We used Cox regressions to estimate risk of incident hospital-diagnoses or death of chronic diseases (i.e., type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, and dementia) during 18 years of follow-up and calculated corresponding chronic disease-free life expectancy from age 30 to age 75. Individuals working in occupations with high prevalence of work stress had a higher risk of incident chronic disease compared to those in occupations with low prevalence of work stress (women: HR 1.04 (95% CI 1.02-1.05), men: HR 1.12 (95% CI 1.11-1.14)). The corresponding loss in chronic disease-free life expectancy was 0.25 (95% CI - 0.10 to 0.60) and 0.84 (95% CI 0.56-1.11) years in women and men, respectively. Additional adjustment for health behaviours attenuated these associations among men. We conclude that men working in high-stress occupations have a small loss of years lived without chronic disease compared to men working in low-stress occupations. This finding appeared to be partially attributable to harmful health behaviours. In women, high work stress indicated a very small and statistically non-significant loss of years lived without chronic disease.

Overall and diagnosis-specific sickness absence and disability pension in colorectal cancer survivors and references in Sweden.

PURPOSE: To longitudinally investigate overall and diagnosis-specific sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors and references and to identify potential risk factors. METHODS: This longitudinal register-based cohort study included all patients living in Sweden, diagnosed with a first primary CRC in 2008-2011 when aged 18-62 (n=6679), and their matched references (n=26 716). Net days of SA (in SA spells >14 days) and DP were analyzed from 2 years before through 5 years after diagnosis, overall and by specific diagnoses. Among survivors, risk factors for future SADP were explored using logistic regression. RESULTS: In survivors, SA peaked in year 1 postdiagnosis, with 62.5% having at least some SA, and then gradually decreased to 20.1% in year 5. In the 2 years after diagnosis, CRC was the most common SA diagnosis in survivors, while SA due to mental diagnoses remained similar to the references. Notable risk factors for postdiagnostic SA or DP were rectal cancer diagnosis, advanced cancer stage at diagnosis, lower educational level, born outside of Sweden, and pre-diagnostic SA, mental morbidity, and comorbidities. CONCLUSION: During 5 years after a CRC diagnosis, CRC survivors had higher levels of postdiagnostic SA and DP than the references, which was mostly due to CRC diagnoses. Although their SA lowered gradually, it did not return to pre-diagnostic levels. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Our results provide valuable information for patients with CRC diagnosis, especially that most have none or low levels of SA/DP after a few years.

Physician's use of sickness certification guidelines: a nationwide survey of 13 750 physicians in different types of clinics in Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To explore physicians' experiences of using the national sickness certification guidelines introduced in 2007 and the types of information they used, in general and in different types of clinics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Most physicians working in Sweden in 2017. PARTICIPANTS: A questionnaire was sent to 34 718 physicians; 54% responded. Analyses were based on answers from the 13 750 physicians who had sick leave cases. OUTCOME MEASURES: To what extent the guidelines were used and what type of information from them that was used. RESULTS: Ten years after the sickness certification guidelines were introduced in Sweden, half of the physicians used them at least once a month. About 40% of physicians in primary healthcare and occupational health services used the guidelines every week. The type of information used varied; 53% used recommendations about duration and 29% about degree of sick leave. Using information about function and activity/work capacity, respectively, was more common within primary healthcare (37% and 38%), psychiatry (42% and 42%), and occupational health services (35% and 41%), and less common in surgery and orthopaedic clinics (12% and 12%) who more often used information about duration (48% and 53%). Moreover, 10% stated that the guidelines were very, and 24% fairly problematic to apply. Half (47%) stated that the guidelines facilitated their contacts with patients and 29% that they improved quality in their management of sick leave cases. More non-specialists, compared with specialists, found that the guidelines facilitated contacts with patients (OR 3.28, 95% CI 3.04 to 3.55). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the physicians used the sickness certification guidelines, although this varied with type of clinic. Half stated that the guidelines facilitated patient contacts. Yet, some found it problematic to apply the guidelines. Further development of the guidelines is warranted as well as more knowledge about them among physicians.

Healthcare use, sickness absence, and disability pension among colorectal cancer survivors and population references in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has negative long-term impacts on survivors' health and work capacity. We aimed to investigate specialized healthcare use and sickness absence and disability pension among CRC survivors and matched references. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this longitudinal register-based cohort study, 6679 patients with a first primary CRC in 2008-2011 (when aged 18-62) and 26,716 CRC-free matched references were followed from 2 years before up to 5 years after diagnosis date. Mean numbers of hospital days and outpatient visits were illustrated for survivors and references for the 7-year period. Crude and adjusted mean numbers of sickness absence/disability pension net days were calculated for post-diagnosis Years 3 and 5. RESULTS: Survivors' healthcare use was higher compared to their references throughout the 7 years around CRC diagnosis and was mostly due to CRC, secondary neoplasms, and digestive disorders. In Year 5, survivors had 1.94 mean outpatient visits and 2.13 mean inpatient days (compared to 1.00 and 0.82 for references, respectively). Survivors' adjusted mean sickness absence/disability pension days amounted to 85 d in Year 3 and 77 in Year 5 (compared to 57 and 54 d in the references). Higher mean number of future days was found among women, lower-educated, foreign-born, with previous comorbidities or previous mental disorders. Those with many sickness absence days in 2 years pre-diagnosis had the highest number of future sickness absence/disability pension days. CONCLUSIONS: Post-diagnostic healthcare use remained high among CRC survivors, mostly due to cancer (CRC and other neoplasms) and digestive diagnoses. Their sickness absence and disability pension decreased gradually over the period but remained higher than among references. Pre-morbid characteristics may be used in early work-related clinical planning for the survivors.

Factors of decisive importance for being in work or not during two years after breast cancer surgery: content analysis of 462 women's open answers.

BACKGROUND: Paid work is one of the most important aspects in life among working-aged women diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite several attempts, no previous study provides a comprehensive overview from the women's perspective about factors of importance for being able to work or not. Therefore, the aim of this study was to gain knowledge about factors that women themselves state are of decisive importance for being able to work or not during the first two years after breast cancer surgery. METHODS: Data was collected in a two-year follow-up questionnaire within the frame of a prospective cohort study of working-aged women who had undergone breast cancer surgery. 749 were included in the questionnaire study and of the 616 (82%) responding women, 462 (75%) wrote statements on an open-ended question about factors of decisive importance for being able to work or not work during the past two years. The statements were analyzed with content analysis. RESULTS: Five categories of factors of importance for being able to  work or not were identified, each covering several sub-categories: Health and wellbeing, Contacts and encounters, Flexibility and adjustment possibilities, Socioeconomic consequences from working/not working, and Own motivation and characteristics. A wide variety of factors were mentioned by the women and the findings give a multifaceted picture of many single but interrelated factors of decisive importance for being able to work/not work. The importance of flexibility in the return-to-work process was stressed, as well as the importance of supportive encounters from, e.g., colleagues, managers, as well as relatives. CONCLUSIONS: The results give a comprehensive overview over a variety of different types of factors for being able to return to/remain in work or to not work after breast cancer surgery, adding new knowledge about e.g. the importance of colleagues, and the women's own preferences or characteristics. These are factors that different stakeholders, both from healthcare but also from the work place and the insurance office, need to be aware of and collaborate around to support women with breast cancer during the period of treatment, rehabilitation and return to work.

Sickness absence and disability pension among women with breast cancer: a population-based cohort study from Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Women's return to work after diagnosis of breast cancer (BC) is becoming more prevalent. However, register-based national investigation on sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) in BC women is lacking. The aim of the study was to explore SA and DP before and after a first BC diagnosis and the possibility to predict new cancer-related SA by using disease-related and sociodemographic factors. METHODS: A longitudinal register study of the 3536 women in Sweden aged 19-64 with a first BC diagnosis in 2010 was conducted by linkage of five nationwide registers. Particularly, detailed information on SA and DP was obtained from the National Social Insurance Agency. Descriptive statistics on SA and DP 2 years before through 3 years after the BC diagnosis were performed. The risk of having a new SA spell due to BC or BC-related diagnoses was modeled using logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of women with SA increased during the year following the BC diagnosis date and declined over the next 2 years to proportions before diagnosis. At the time of BC diagnosis, half of the women began a new SA spell > 14 days with cancer, cancer-related, or mental diagnosis. Disease-related and sociodemographic factors including occupational sector, living area, age, cancer stage, educational level, and number of previous SA days showed statistical significance (p < 0.05) in predicting a new SA around BC diagnosis. By using these factors, it was possible to correctly predict 67% of the new SA spell. CONCLUSIONS: SA among women with BC was elevated mainly in the first year after diagnosis. New SA following BC diagnosis can accurately be predicted.

Oncologists' experiences of and prerequisites for sickness certification tasks: A nationwide questionnaire study.

Oncologists frequently have sickness certification (SC) consultations, however, little is known about their experiences of such tasks. OBJECTIVE: To investigate oncologists' experiences of organisational prerequisites for SC tasks, and if lack of resources was related to experiencing SC as problematic. METHOD: Questionnaire data from 342 oncologists in Sweden were used for descriptive statistics and to calculate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: The majority (92.2%) had SC consultations weekly; 17.8% of the oncologists experienced such consultations as problematic weekly. About a third appreciated the national guidelines for SC (34.5%) and had joint routines/policies regarding SC at their clinic (29.7%). Experiencing SC consultations as problematic was associated with stating not having enough resources for such work (OR 3.47; 95% CI 1.92-6.25). Lack of resources was associated with: experiencing lack of competence in insurance medicine (3.34; 1.92-5.82), conflicts with patients regarding SC (4.22; 1.96-9.07), finding it problematic to manage the two roles as medical expert and as the patient's treating physician (3.31; 2.04-5.34), or to assess work capacity (2.28; 1.46-3.56). CONCLUSION: Although oncologists often had SC tasks, most did not experience them as problematic weekly. However, lack of resources for SC tasks was associated with experiencing SC as problematic.

Trajectories of sickness absence and disability pension before and after colorectal cancer: A Swedish longitudinal population-based matched cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Working-aged colorectal cancer (CRC) patients have a much better survival, indicating the importance of their future work situation. We investigated trajectories of sickness absence and disability pension (SADP) days before and after CRC diagnosis, and risk factors associated with different trajectories. METHODS: A longitudinal, population-based matched cohort study of 4735 CRC survivors in Sweden aged 19-62 when first diagnosed with CRC in 2008-2011, and 18,230 matched references was conducted, using microdata linked from several nationwide registers. The annual SADP net days for 2 years before through 5 years after diagnosis date were computed. A group-based trajectory model was used to depict SADP trajectories. Associations between trajectory membership, and sociodemographic and clinical variables were tested by chi2 test and multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Four trajectories of SADP days/year for CRC survivors were identified: "only increase around diagnosis" (52% of all), "slight increase after diagnosis" (27%), "high then decrease moderately after diagnosis" (13%), and "constantly very high" (8%). Educational level, Charlson's Comorbidity Index, and prediagnostic mental disorders were the strongest factors determining the SADP trajectory groups. In references, three trajectories ("constantly low" (80% of all), "constantly moderate and decrease gradually" (12%), and "very high then decrease overtime" (8%)) were identified. CONCLUSION: Approximately 80% of CRC survivors return to a low level of SADP at 5 years postdiagnosis. Prediagnostic status of mental disorders, somatic comorbidity, and low educational level are good indicators of future high SADP levels for them. CRC survivors will benefit from early rehabilitation programs with identified risk factors.

Self-rated health over a two-year period after breast cancer surgery: prospective ratings and retrospective rating by means of a health-line.

BACKGROUND: There are difficulties in clinical assessment of patients' health, and there is a need for evaluating instruments that measures self-rated health over time and that are based on the patient's own experiences of their health situation. AIM: To describe the trajectory of self-rated health given in a retrospective health-line and its correspondence with the ratings of health given at six different time points during 2 years following a first breast cancer surgery. DESIGNS AND METHODS: An explorative prospective cohort study presented according to the STROBE guideline. At six time points, 459 women (26-63 years) completed assessments of self-rated health during 2 years following a first breast cancer surgery. Subsequently, the women retrospectively rated health month by month over the two years by means of a health-line. The women were included consecutively in 2007-2009, last data collection was performed in 2012. Statistical analyses were used to compare the health-line with previous ratings. RESULTS: Most women (74-88%) rated their health as good, very good or excellent at all six time points. Health-line ratings were somewhat lower than the ratings made at the actual time-point; however, the illustrated trajectories back in time followed the same patterns as the women had reported during the two years. The lowest ratings of self-rated health were reported at four months after surgery. The retrospective illustrations varied greatly, and poorer health was reported by women undergoing chemotherapy, with lower education and who reported more life events. CONCLUSIONS: Even if the retrospective ratings by the health-line were somewhat lower than the ratings at the actual time-point, the health-line captures the health trajectory. The individual graphic illustration by means of a health-line may serve as a basis for assessment and support patient health narratives. The findings indicate that life event, lower education and chemotherapy influence concurrent and retrospective self-assessment of health.

Cost-of-illness trajectories among people with multiple sclerosis by comorbidity: A register-based prospective study in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Comorbidities are common among people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS); yet, their impact on the cost-of-illness (COI) in MS is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Explore the heterogeneity in COI trajectories among newly diagnosed PwMS in relation to type of comorbidity. METHODS: A nationwide longitudinal cohort study, using prospectively collected Swedish register data for seven years. The COI/year of 639 PwMS diagnosed in 2006, when aged 25-60, was estimated until 2013. Using healthcare data, PwMS were categorised into six comorbidity groups: ocular; cardiovascular, genitourinary or cancer disease; musculoskeletal; mental; neurological other than MS; and injuries. One group of PwMS without comorbidity was also created. Group-based trajectory modelling was applied, examining different COI trajectories within each comorbidity group. RESULTS: Across the seven follow-up years, PwMS with mental comorbidities had the highest COI overall (€36,482). Four COI trajectories were identified within each comorbidity group; the largest trajectory had high healthcare costs and productivity losses (36.3%-59.6% of PwMS, across all comorbidity groups). 59.6% of PwMS with mental comorbidity had high healthcare costs and productivity losses. CONCLUSION: High COI and heterogeneity in COI trajectories could be partly explained by the presence of chronic comorbidities in the year around MS diagnosis, including the presence of mental comorbidity.

Trajectories of sickness absence and disability pension in the 2 years before and 3 years after breast cancer diagnosis: A Swedish longitudinal population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: After breast cancer (BC) diagnosis, work incapacity often occurs among working-age women. We investigated the trajectories of previous and subsequent sickness absence and/or disability pension (SA/DP) days, and risk factors for consistently high levels of future SA/DP among these women. METHODS: This longitudinal cohort study included all 3536 women in Sweden aged 19-64 years who received a first BC diagnosis in 2010. Their annual SA/DP net days from 2 years before to 3 years after diagnosis were calculated. SA/DP patterns were depicted by a group-based trajectory model. Logistic regressions were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs of >90 or >180 SA/DP days/year. RESULTS: Three trajectories of SA/DP days/year were identified: increasing only in year+1 (61% of all), increasing then decreasing in year+3 (30%), and constantly very high (9%). The risk factors associated with annual SA/DP days >90 (long) and >180 days (extreme long) were similar. Factors associated with having >90 SA/DP days for years 1-3 were: stage II (OR, 4.59; 95% CI, 2.98-7.07), stage III+IV (OR, 26.57; 95% CI, 13.52-52.22), prediagnosis SA 1-30 days (OR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.30-5.70), prediagnosis SA >90 days (OR, 24.52; 95% CI, 12.25-49.08), and prediagnosis DP (OR, 659.97; 95% CI, 292.52->999.99). Conversely, adjusting for prediagnosis SA/DP and stage, sociodemographic factors were not associated with high levels of SA/DP. CONCLUSION: After BC diagnosis, SA/DP increased significantly but then decreased. The absolute majority had no SA/DP during year 3. Advanced cancer stage and previous high SA/DP rendered the greatest risk for future high SA/DP. More knowledge is needed for applying the information in rehabilitation and return-to-work planning.

Trajectories of sickness absence and disability pension before and after opioid initiation for noncancer pain: a 10-year population-based study.

Chronic noncancer pain is a leading cause of sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP). The objectives of this study were to identify trajectories of SA/DP before and after strong and weak opioid initiation for noncancer pain and the factors associated with these trajectories. A longitudinal population-based study of 201,641 people (24-59 years) without cancer who initiated opioid analgesics in 2009 in Sweden was conducted. Trajectories of net annual SA/DP days in the 5 years before/after opioid initiation were estimated with group-based trajectory modelling. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with trajectory groups. Among the 6.9% of people initiating strong opioids, 12.5% had persistent high SA/DP (estimated 320 days/year) before and after opioid initiation and 72.9% had persistent low/minimum SA/DP (estimated 30 days/year). Approximately 8.6% of people had increasing SA/DP, and 6.1% had decreasing SA/DP after opioid initiation, although this seemed to reflect continuation of preinitiation patterns. Trajectories were similar at lower SA/DP days/year among those initiating weak opioids. Persistent high SA/DP among strong opioid initiators were associated with ≥5 comorbidities (OR = 8.72, 95% CI 5.61-13.56), ≤9 years of education (OR = 5.83, 95% CI 4.84-7.03), and previous use of antidepressants (OR = 4.57, 95% CI 3.89-5.37) and antipsychotics (OR = 4.49, 95% CI 2.93-6.88). Three-quarters of people initiating opioids for noncancer pain had persistent low/minimum levels of SA/DP 5 years before and after initiation. Increasing and decreasing SA/DP after opioid initiation seemed to reflect a continuation of preinitiation patterns. Our findings highlight the complex range of sociodemographic and medication-related factors associated with persistent SA/DP.

Respectful encounters from healthcare professionals and return to work among 9032 long-term sick-listed due to cancer or due to other diagnoses: results from a Swedish population-based survey.

PURPOSE: To examine whether experiences of positive respectful encounters and negative disrespectful encounters differ between sickness absentees with a cancer diagnosis and sickness absentees with other diagnoses, especially in relation to their ability to return to work (RTW). METHODS: A total of 9032 long-term sickness absentees in Sweden responded to a questionnaire (response rate 52%) about experiences of positive and negative encounters with healthcare professionals. The association between different types of such encounters and participants feeling respected or disrespected were calculated with population attributable risk with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The perceived impact on ability to RTW was also examined. RESULTS: Significantly, larger proportions among those who experienced a positive encounter and also felt respected stated that those encounters facilitated their ability to RTW, compared to those who experienced a positive encounter without feeling respected: among cancer absentees the difference in proportions were 21% (CI, 7-34) versus 50% (CI, 45-55); among absentees with other diagnoses 42% (CI, 37-47) versus 63% (CI, 61-64). Similar comparisons among sick-listed who experienced negative encounters indicated that also feeling disrespected impeded ability to RTW among a significantly larger proportion of those with other diagnoses [51% (CI, 48-54) versus 35% (CI, 31-39) of those not feeling disrespected]. Among cancer absentees, the corresponding proportions were 20% (CI, 9-30) versus 25% (CI, 9-41). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to sickness absentees with other diagnoses, a larger proportion of cancer sickness absentees stated that they were facilitated by respectful encounters and not impeded by disrespectful encounters, regarding self-estimated ability to RTW. More research is needed to examine whether these differences can be associated with use of a patient-centered encountering approach.

Socioeconomic differences in healthy and disease-free life expectancy between ages 50 and 75: a multi-cohort study.

BACKGROUND: There are striking socioeconomic differences in life expectancy, but less is known about inequalities in healthy life expectancy and disease-free life expectancy. We estimated socioeconomic differences in health expectancies in four studies in England, Finland, France and Sweden. METHODS: We estimated socioeconomic differences in health expectancies using data drawn from repeated waves of the four cohorts for two indicators: (i) self-rated health and (ii) chronic diseases (cardiovascular, cancer, respiratory and diabetes). Socioeconomic position was measured by occupational position. Multistate life table models were used to estimate healthy and chronic disease-free life expectancy from ages 50 to 75. RESULTS: In all cohorts, we found inequalities in healthy life expectancy according to socioeconomic position. In England, both women and men in the higher positions could expect 82-83% of their life between ages 50 and 75 to be in good health compared to 68% for those in lower positions. The figures were 75% compared to 47-50% for Finland; 85-87% compared to 77-79% for France and 80-83% compared to 72-75% for Sweden. Those in higher occupational positions could expect more years in good health (2.1-6.8 years) and without chronic diseases (0.5-2.3 years) from ages 50 to 75. CONCLUSION: There are inequalities in healthy life expectancy between ages 50 and 75 according to occupational position. These results suggest that reducing socioeconomic inequalities would make an important contribution to extending healthy life expectancy and disease-free life expectancy.

Job strain and loss of healthy life years between ages 50 and 75 by sex and occupational position: analyses of 64 934 individuals from four prospective cohort studies.

OBJECTIVES: Poor psychosocial working conditions increase the likelihood of various types of morbidity and may substantially limit quality of life and possibilities to remain in paid work. To date, however, no studies to our knowledge have quantified the extent to which poor psychosocial working conditions reduce healthy or chronic disease-free life expectancy, which was the focus of this study. METHODS: Data were derived from four cohorts with repeat data: the Finnish Public Sector Study (Finland), GAZEL (France), the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (Sweden) and Whitehall II (UK). Healthy (in good self-rated health) life expectancy (HLE) and chronic disease-free (free from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes) life expectancy (CDFLE) was calculated from age 50 to 75 based on 64 394 individuals with data on job strain (high demands in combination with low control) at baseline and health at baseline and follow-up. RESULTS: Multistate life table models showed that job strain was consistently related to shorter HLE (overall 1.7 years difference). The difference in HLE was more pronounced among men (2.0 years compared with 1.5 years for women) and participants in lower occupational positions (2.5 years among low-grade men compared with 1.7 years among high-grade men). Similar differences in HLE, although smaller, were observed among those in intermediate or high occupational positions. Job strain was additionally associated with shorter CDFLE, although this association was weaker and somewhat inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that individuals with job strain have a shorter health expectancy compared with those without job strain.

Occupational status among adult survivors following allogeneic stem cell transplantation in childhood.

This study examined occupational status and factors associated with sick leave and disability pension among adult long-term survivors previously treated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) during childhood. Moreover, occupational status was compared to that of a reference group. Data were collected with questionnaires and from medical records. The SCT group included 59 adults (18-45 years old: response rate 63%) treated with allo-SCT in childhood with a median of 17 (range 3-28) years earlier. The reference group included 296 individuals randomly selected from the general population. The results show that 54% of the long-term survivors were working part- or full-time and that 19% were on sick leave or disability pension. A larger proportion of the SCT group was on sick leave or disability pension (19% vs. 6%: p < .001) than of the reference group. The logistic regression analysis revealed that being on sick leave or disability pension among long-term survivors was associated with late effects related to the allo-SCT (OR 12.28: 95% CI 1.3-111.6: p = .03). The results underscore that long-term survivors' engagement in paid work is influenced many years after treatment and highlights the need to include vocational assistance in the rehabilitation following allo-SCT in childhood.

Trends in Diagnosis-Specific Work Disability Before and After Stroke: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Although a stroke event often leads to work disability, diagnoses behind work disability before and after stroke are largely unknown. We examined the pre-event and postevent trends in diagnosis-specific work disability among patients of working age. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included all new nonfatal stroke events in 2006-2008 from population-based hospital registers in Sweden among women and men aged 25 to 60 years (n=12 972). Annual days of diagnosis-specific work disability were followed for 4 years before and after stroke. Repeated measures negative binomial regression models using the generalized estimating equations method were fitted to examine trends in diagnosis-specific work disability before and after the event. Already during the 4 pre-event years, work disability attributed to circulatory diseases increased among women (rate ratio, 1.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.68-2.36) and men (rate ratio, 2.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.88-2.57). Increasing trends before stroke were also found for work disability attributed to mental disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, neoplasms, diseases of the nervous, respiratory, and digestive systems, injuries, and diabetes mellitus. As expected, a sharp increase in work disability days attributed to circulatory diseases was found during the first year after the event among both sexes. Overall, during 4 years after the stroke, there was a decreasing trend for circulatory diseases and injuries, whereas the trend was increasing for nervous diseases and diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: Work disability attributed to several mental and somatic diagnoses is higher already before a stroke event.