Future risk for disability pension among people with sickness absence due to otoaudiological diagnoses: a population-based cohort study with a 12-year follow-up.

Unlabelled: Hearing difficulties is a growing public health problem and more knowledge of consequences of those difficulties in working life is warranted.

Aims: To study the future risk of being granted a disability pension (DP) among people with sickness absence with an otoaudiological diagnoses (OAD) compared to other sickness absentees.

Methods: A population-based prospective cohort study of all 40,786 people in a Swedish county who in 1985 were aged 16-64 and had a new sick-leave spell >7 days.