Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK
Purpose To assess sickness absence and transitions from employment for employees with arthritis compared with employees without arthritis over time.Methods We use 10 waves of the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (2009–2019). The sample (n=38 928) comprises employees aged 50 years to state retirement...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2024-11-01
|
| Series: | RMD Open |
| Online Access: | https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/10/4/e004817.full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849697066550296576 |
|---|---|
| author | William Whittaker Ross Wilkie James Higgerson Katherine Payne Martin Eden Suzanne MM Verstappen |
| author_facet | William Whittaker Ross Wilkie James Higgerson Katherine Payne Martin Eden Suzanne MM Verstappen |
| author_sort | William Whittaker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose To assess sickness absence and transitions from employment for employees with arthritis compared with employees without arthritis over time.Methods We use 10 waves of the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (2009–2019). The sample (n=38 928) comprises employees aged 50 years to state retirement age. Arthritis was self-reported and could refer to people with conditions under the umbrella term ‘inflammatory arthritis’ or osteoarthritis (hereafter ‘arthritis’). Weighted random-effects multivariable linear probability models were estimated for two employment-related measures (1) sickness absence and (2) transitions from employment to: (a) unemployment; (b) long-term sick; (c) early retirement. These were regressed against a variable for arthritis and confounding factors (age, socioeconomic job classification, employing sector, year and additional health conditions). Additional analyses examined an interaction between the variable arthritis and these factors to test whether the effect of arthritis differs between these groups.Results Employees reporting having arthritis were more likely to have sickness absence (1.35 percentage points greater rate (95% CI (0.92, 1.78)) and to transition to long-term sick (0.79 percentage points (0.46, 1.13)) and early retirement (0.58 percentage points (0.05, 1.11)). No effect was found for transitions to unemployment. There was limited evidence that the effects of arthritis vary for employees in different socioeconomic classifications.Conclusions Employees living with arthritis have higher rates of sickness absence and greater rates of transitions from employment to long-term sick and early retirement. Further work could look at ways to quantify the implications for individuals, employers and the state and ways to alleviate the effects of living with arthritis on work participation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5ad2f9aafd4840beba62e91cbfcb4435 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2056-5933 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | RMD Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-5ad2f9aafd4840beba62e91cbfcb44352025-08-20T03:19:17ZengBMJ Publishing GroupRMD Open2056-59332024-11-0110410.1136/rmdopen-2024-004817Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UKWilliam Whittaker0Ross Wilkie1James Higgerson2Katherine Payne3Martin Eden4Suzanne MM Verstappen5Manchester Centre for Health Economics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UKSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, UKManchester Centre for Health Economics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UKprofessor of health economicsManchester Centre for Health Economics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UKCentre for Musculoskeletal Research, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UKPurpose To assess sickness absence and transitions from employment for employees with arthritis compared with employees without arthritis over time.Methods We use 10 waves of the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (2009–2019). The sample (n=38 928) comprises employees aged 50 years to state retirement age. Arthritis was self-reported and could refer to people with conditions under the umbrella term ‘inflammatory arthritis’ or osteoarthritis (hereafter ‘arthritis’). Weighted random-effects multivariable linear probability models were estimated for two employment-related measures (1) sickness absence and (2) transitions from employment to: (a) unemployment; (b) long-term sick; (c) early retirement. These were regressed against a variable for arthritis and confounding factors (age, socioeconomic job classification, employing sector, year and additional health conditions). Additional analyses examined an interaction between the variable arthritis and these factors to test whether the effect of arthritis differs between these groups.Results Employees reporting having arthritis were more likely to have sickness absence (1.35 percentage points greater rate (95% CI (0.92, 1.78)) and to transition to long-term sick (0.79 percentage points (0.46, 1.13)) and early retirement (0.58 percentage points (0.05, 1.11)). No effect was found for transitions to unemployment. There was limited evidence that the effects of arthritis vary for employees in different socioeconomic classifications.Conclusions Employees living with arthritis have higher rates of sickness absence and greater rates of transitions from employment to long-term sick and early retirement. Further work could look at ways to quantify the implications for individuals, employers and the state and ways to alleviate the effects of living with arthritis on work participation.https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/10/4/e004817.full |
| spellingShingle | William Whittaker Ross Wilkie James Higgerson Katherine Payne Martin Eden Suzanne MM Verstappen Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK RMD Open |
| title | Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK |
| title_full | Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK |
| title_fullStr | Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK |
| title_short | Effects of employees living with an ‘arthritis’ on sickness absence and transitions out of employment: a comparative observational study in the UK |
| title_sort | effects of employees living with an arthritis on sickness absence and transitions out of employment a comparative observational study in the uk |
| url | https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/10/4/e004817.full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT williamwhittaker effectsofemployeeslivingwithanarthritisonsicknessabsenceandtransitionsoutofemploymentacomparativeobservationalstudyintheuk AT rosswilkie effectsofemployeeslivingwithanarthritisonsicknessabsenceandtransitionsoutofemploymentacomparativeobservationalstudyintheuk AT jameshiggerson effectsofemployeeslivingwithanarthritisonsicknessabsenceandtransitionsoutofemploymentacomparativeobservationalstudyintheuk AT katherinepayne effectsofemployeeslivingwithanarthritisonsicknessabsenceandtransitionsoutofemploymentacomparativeobservationalstudyintheuk AT martineden effectsofemployeeslivingwithanarthritisonsicknessabsenceandtransitionsoutofemploymentacomparativeobservationalstudyintheuk AT suzannemmverstappen effectsofemployeeslivingwithanarthritisonsicknessabsenceandtransitionsoutofemploymentacomparativeobservationalstudyintheuk |