Open AccessPresenteeism as a predictor of disability pension: A prospective study among nursing professionals and care assistants in Sweden
Author(s) -
Gustafsson Klas,
Bergström Gunnar,
Marklund Staffan,
Aboagye Emmanuel,
Leineweber Constanze
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of occupational health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 1348-9585
DOI - 10.1002/1348-9585.12070
Subject(s) - presenteeism , disability pension , psychosocial , medicine , pension , disability insurance , absenteeism , confidence interval , health care , nursing , social security , psychology , population , environmental health , psychiatry , business , social psychology , finance , political science , economics , law , economic growth
Objectives The aim of the present study was to examine how presenteeism affects the risk of future disability pension among nursing professionals and care assistants (assistant nurses, hospital ward assistants, home‐based personal care workers, and child care assistants). A specific objective was to compare health and social care employees with all other occupations. Methods The study was based on a representative sample of working women and men (n = 43 682) aged 16‐64 years, who had been interviewed between 2001 and 2013 for the Swedish Work Environment Survey conducted every second year since 1989. Information on disability pension was obtained from the Social Insurance Agency's database (2002‐2014). The studied predictors were related to disability pension using Cox's proportional hazard regression with hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) and selected confounders were controlled for. The follow‐up period was 6.7 years (SD 4.2). Results Health and social care employees with frequent presenteeism showed a particularly elevated risk of future disability pension after adjusting for sex, sociodemographic variables, physical and psychosocial working conditions, and self‐rated health symptoms. In the amalgamated occupational group of nursing professionals and care assistants, the impact on disability pension of having engaged in presenteeism four times or more during the prior year remained significant (HR = 3.72, 95% CI = 2.43‐5.68). Conclusions The study suggests that frequent presenteeism contributes to an increased risk of disability pension among nursing professionals and care assistants as well as among all other occupations.