Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jun 19:6:e5073.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.5073. eCollection 2018.

Incidence of ill-health related job loss and related social and occupational factors. The "unfit for the job" study: a one-year follow-up study of 51,132 workers

Francois-Xavier Lesage  1 , Frederic Dutheil  2   3 , Lode Godderis  4 , Aymeric Divies  5 , Guillaume Choron  6
Affiliations

Incidence of ill-health related job loss and related social and occupational factors. The "unfit for the job" study: a one-year follow-up study of 51,132 workers

Francois-Xavier Lesage et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Objective: The analysis of ill-health related job loss may be a relevant indicator for the prioritization of actions in the workplace or in the field of public health, as well as a target for health promotion. The aim of this study was to analyze the medical causes, the incidence, and the characteristics of employees medically unfit to do their job.

Methods: This one-year prospective study included all workers followed by occupational physicians in an occupational health service in the south of France. The incidence of unfitness for work have been grouped according to the main medical causes and analyzed. We performed a multivariate analysis in order to adjust the observed risk of job loss based on the age groups, sex, occupation and the activity sectors.

Results: A total of 17 occupational physicians followed up 51,132 workers. The all-cause incidence of being unfit to return to one's job was 7.8‰ (n = 398). The two main causes of being unfit for one's job were musculoskeletal disorders (47.2%, n = 188) and mental ill-health (38.4%, n = 153). Being over 50 years old (Odds ratio (OR) 2.63, confidence interval 95% CI [2.13-3.25]) and being a woman (OR 1.52, 95% CI [1.21-1.91]) were associated with the all-cause unfitness, independent of occupation and activity sector.

Conclusions: Identification of occupational and demographic determinants independently associated with ill-health related job loss may provide significant and cost-effective arguments for health promotion and job loss prevention.

Keywords: Employment; Job loss; Occupational medicine; Workplace.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Alavinia SM, van den Berg TIJ, van Duivenbooden C, Elders LAM, Burdorf A. Impact of work-related factors, lifestyle, and work ability on sickness absence among Dutch construction workers. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2009;35(5):325–333. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.1340. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bonneterre V, Faisandier L, Bicout D, Bernardet C, Piollat J, Ameille J, de Clavière C, Aptel M, Lasfargues G, de Gaudemaris R. Programmed health surveillance and detection of emerging diseases in occupational health: contribution of the French national occupational disease surveillance and prevention network (RNV3P) Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2010;67(3):178–186. doi: 10.1136/oem.2008.044610. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carder M, McNamee R, Turner S, Hodgson JT, Holland F, Agius RM. Time trends in the incidence of work-related mental ill-health and musculoskeletal disorders in the UK. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2013;70(5):317–324. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2012-100904. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carder M, Turner S, McNamee R, Agius R. Work-related mental ill-health and “stress” in the UK (2002-05) Occupational Medicine. 2009;59(8):539–544. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqp117. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chen Y, McDonald JC, Cherry NM. Incidence and suspected cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, United Kingdom, 1996-2001. Occupational Medicine. 2006;56(6):406–413. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kql040. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources