Sickness absence trajectories and retirement pathways among industrial workers

Abstract

We studied the trajectories of sickness absences among industrial workers over 6 years and examined whether the membership of trajectories was associated with subsequent retirement type for 11 years. We used data from one of the largest Finnish food industry companies that responded to a questionnaire survey in 2003. Sickness absence days per year from 2003 to 2008 were obtained from the company's registers and linked to the register of Finnish Centre for Pension data (statutory and non-statutory) until the end of 2019. We analysed data from 633 individuals who had information on sickness absence and the type of retirement. Latent class growth modelling was used to identify trajectories of sickness absence days per year, and Cox-regression models were used to examine the association of trajectories with retirement type. The models were adjusted for baseline sociodemographic, work-related physical, and psychosocial factors. We identified three distinct trajectories of sickness absence during the 6-year period. Most respondents (51.2%) had low-fluctuating, one-third (33.9%) had moderate-stable, and 14.9% had a high-stable sickness absence trajectory throughout. The high-stable trajectory was associated with a higher risk of non-statutory retirement (hazard ratio 2.67, 95% confidence interval 1.69-4.23) when adjusted for sociodemographic, perceived health, and work-related variables. We found significant heterogeneity in the number of sick absence days per year among the private sector employees over a period of 6 years. An increase in the risk of non-statutory retirement among those with high-stable sickness absences signifies the importance of early intervention to support individuals experiencing recurring sickness absence whilst employed.

Figure 1.

Trajectory of sickness absence days among industrial employees from 2003 to 2008.

Figure 2.

Nelson-Aalen cumulative hazard curve for non-statutory retirement by sickness trajectories.