Mortality in relation to disability pension: findings from a 12-year prospective population-based cohort study in Sweden

Abstract

Aims: Knowledge is limited regarding the association between disability pension (DP) and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the relative risk (RR) of mortality associated with DP among women and men of different ages over a 12-year period, for DP in general, and for full-time DP, part-time DP, and DP for labour-market reasons, respectively.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed covering the total population of the Swedish county of Ostergötland aged 16-64 years in December 1984 (n = 245,704) followed up from 1985 to 1996. The RR of mortality was analysed in relation to DP, age, and gender using a Cox proportional hazards model.

Results: The RR of mortality was higher for DP recipients than for individuals without DP, and this was true for both women (RR 2.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.63 to 2.96) and men (RR 2.97, CI 2.83 to 3.11), and for all age groups. The RR of mortality was highest among the youngest DP recipients. The RR of mortality was especially high the first year of DP and remained elevated over the whole follow-up period. The RR of mortality among part-time DP recipients was lower than among full-time DP recipients and was significantly higher than seen for non-DP recipients. Individuals granted DP for labour-market reasons exhibited much lower RR of mortality than all other DP recipients.

Conclusions: Further research is needed to investigate which factors explain the very high RR of mortality among disability pensioners.