Work-family conflicts and long-term medically certified sickness absence due to mental disorders - a follow-up study of female municipal employees.

Background: . Decreased work ability due to mental disorders is a growing concern in Europe. We studied the role of work-family conflicts in association with long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders (LTSA-MD).

Intervention targeted at physicians' treatment of musculoskeletal disorders and sickness certification: an interrupted time series analysis.

Objective: An intervention was carried out at the occupational healthcare services (OHS) of the City of Helsinki beginning in 2016. We investigated the association between the intervention and employee sick leaves using interrupted time series analysis.

Design: Register-based cohort study with a quasi-experimental study design.

Sickness absence and return to work among employees with knee osteoarthritis with and without total knee arthroplasty: a prospective register linkage study among Finnish public sector employees.

Objective: This study aimed to examine duration of sickness absence due to knee osteoarthritis (OA) and sustained return to work (RTW) among municipal employees, who had at least one compensated sickness absence period due to knee OA. The contribution of sociodemographic characteristics, diabetes and previous sickness absence were assessed. We differentiated between participants with and without total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Alternative duty work as workplace-initiated procedure to reduce sickness absence.

Purpose: Alternative duty work is a procedure that enables an employee with a short-term disability to perform modified duties as an alternative to sickness absence. We examined whether the implementation of an alternative duty policy was associated with reduced sickness absence in the Finnish public sector.

Methods: Two city administrations (A and D) that implemented an alternative duty work policy to their employees (n = 5341 and n = 7538) served as our intervention cities, and two city administrations (B and C) that did not implement the policy represented the reference cities (n = 6976 and n = 6720).

'Return to Work' Coordinator Model and Work Participation of Employees: A Natural Intervention Study in Finland.

Purpose Employers increasingly use 'return to work' (RTW) coordinators to support work ability and extend working careers, particularly among employees with reduced work ability. We examined whether applying this model was associated with changes in employee sickness absence and disability retirements. Methods We used data from the Finnish Public Sector study from 2009 until 2015.

The effect of pain management group on chronic pain and pain related co-morbidities and symptoms. A stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial. A study protocol.

Introduction: In primary care settings, pain-management group therapy is a tool potentially cost-effective but very much underused.

Methods: Our purpose here is to provide useful scientific information on the effect of pain-management group participation on chronic pain and pain-related co-morbidities and symptoms, as well as practical information for primary and occupational health services to initiate pain-management group activity.This study will be carried out at primary care Occupational Health Helsinki (Helsinki city employees' occupational health services), with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health as the research partner.

The effect of pain management group on chronic pain and pain related co-morbidities and symptoms. A stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial. A study protocol.

Introduction: In primary care settings, painmanagement group therapy is a tool potentially cost-effective but very much underused.

Methods: Our purpose here is to provide useful scientific information on the effect of pain-management group participation on chronic pain and pain-related co-morbidities and symptoms, as well as practical information for primary and occupational health services to initiate pain-management group activity.This study will be carried out at primary care Occupational Health Helsinki (Helsinki city employees' occupational health services), with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health as the research partner.

Work-Related Exposures and Sickness Absence Trajectories: A Nationally Representative Follow-up Study among Finnish Working-Aged People.

The contribution of physically demanding work to the developmental trajectories of sickness absence (SA) has seldom been examined. We analyzed the associations of 12 physical work exposures, individually and in combination, with SA trajectories among the occupationally active in the Finnish nationally representative Health 2000 survey. We included 3814 participants aged 30-59 years at baseline, when exposure history to work-related factors was reported.

Alcohol use and sickness absence due to all causes and mental- or musculoskeletal disorders: a nationally representative study.

Background: Previous studies have not distinguished between different alcohol-use histories, which could have contributed to the current inconsistent evidence regarding the relationship between alcohol use and subsequent sickness absence. We thus examined alcohol use and subsequent diagnosis-specific sickness absence in groups with different levels of alcohol use, as well as in lifelong abstainers, former drinkers, and people with clinical alcohol use disorders.

Methods: The data of the population-based Health 2000 Survey (BRIF8901) of 3666 Finns aged 30-55 were linked with national registers on medically certified sickness absences lasting for > 10 working days (long-term) for all causes (2000 - 2010) and for mental or musculoskeletal disorders (2004-2010), as well as with registers on pensions and death (2000-2010).

A screening tool for the risk of disability retirement due to musculoskeletal disorders.

Objective This study aimed to develop and validate a risk screening tool using a points system to assess the risk of future disability retirement due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Methods The development population, the Health 2000 Survey, consisted of a nationally representative sample of Finnish employees aged 30-60 years (N=3676) and the validation population, the Helsinki Health Study, consisted of employees of the City of Helsinki aged 40-60 years (N=6391). Both surveys were linked to data on disability retirement awards due to MSD from national register for an 11-year follow-up.

An optimal sampling approach to modelling whole-body vibration exposure in all-terrain vehicle driving.

Exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) presents an occupational health risk and several safety standards obligate to measure WBV. The high cost of direct measurements in large epidemiological studies raises the question of the optimal sampling for estimating WBV exposures given by a large variation in exposure levels in real worksites. This paper presents a new approach to addressing this problem.

Protective determinants of sickness absence among employees with multisite pain-a 7-year follow-up.

We identified factors protective of all-cause sickness absence (SA) among subjects with multisite musculoskeletal pain (MSP). The nationally representative source sample comprised 3420 actively working Finns aged 30 to 55 in year 2000 and alive at follow-up. Pain in 18 body locations was combined into four sites (neck, low back, upper limbs, and lower limbs).

Good work ability despite multisite musculoskeletal pain? A study among occupationally active Finns.

Aim: Although multisite pain (MSP) often threatens work ability (WA), some of those with MSP retain good WA. Our aim was to identify factors associated with good WA among subjects with MSP.

Methods: A nationally representative sample (the Health 2000-Study, response rate 87%) comprising 3884 occupationally active Finns aged 30-64 years.

Alcohol-induced morbidity and mortality by occupation: a population-based follow-up study of working Finns.

Background: To justify alcohol-related health promotion programs and target them at the correct workplaces, it is important to identify occupations with increased risk of severe health outcomes caused by alcohol.

Methods: Data on hospital admissions (854,555 men and 801,653 women) from the Finnish health care register and data on deaths from Statistics Finland from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2004 were merged with information from the 2000 population census. We assessed the age- and education-adjusted relationship between occupation and the sum of hospitalizations and death primarily caused by alcohol, using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Association between occupational psychosocial factors and waist circumference is modified by diet among men.

Background/objectives: Occupational psychosocial stress has been identified as a risk factor for obesity, whereas dietary habits have a key role in weight control. We examined whether dietary habits modify the association between occupational psychosocial factors and waist circumference.

Subjects/methods: Data comprised 31-year-old men (n=2222) and women (n=2053) in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.

Psychosocial factors at work and obesity among young finnish adults: a cohort study.

Objective: To examine the associations between occupational psychosocial factors and obesity among 31-year-olds, adjusting for adolescent body mass index, physical strenuousness of work, and adverse health behaviors (ie, stress-related eating/drinking, leisure-time physical inactivity, smoking, and high alcohol consumption).

Methods: The study population comprised 2083 men and 1770 women from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Obesity was defined as a body mass index of 30.

Abstinence and current or former alcohol use as predictors of disability retirement in Finland.

Aim: According to previous studies, abstinence from alcohol increases the risk of disability retirement (DR). We studied whether former alcohol users' poor mental or physical health might have contributed to this result.

Methods: Prospective population-based study of 3621 occupationally active Finns aged 30-55 years at baseline.

Multisite musculoskeletal pain predicts medically certified disability retirement among Finns.

Background: Musculoskeletal pain at several sites (multisite pain) is more common than single-site pain. Little is known on its effects on disability pension (DP) retirement.

Methods: A nationally representative sample comprised 4071 Finns in the workforce aged 30 to 63.

Common mental and musculoskeletal disorders as predictors of disability retirement among Finns.

Background: The contribution of common mental disorders (CMD) co-occurring with chronic musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) to disability retirement is not known.

Methods: A nationally representative sample (the Health 2000 survey) comprised 3943 occupationally active Finns aged 30-63. MSD and other chronic disorders were assessed by a physician in a standardized clinical examination, and CMD using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of knee and hip osteoarthritis leading to hospitalization: a cohort study of 5274 Finns.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether low levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] predicts the development of knee or hip OA.

Methods: The cohort consisted of 5274 participants in a national health examination survey who had no knee or hip OA at baseline. Information about the incidence of OA was drawn from the National Health Care Register.

Predictors of sickness absence related to musculoskeletal pain: a two-year follow-up study of workers in municipal kitchens.

Objective: We studied predictors of sickness absences (SA) due to musculoskeletal pain over two years among 386 municipal female kitchen workers.

Methods: Pain and SA periods (no/yes) due to pain in seven sites during the past three months were assessed at 3-month intervals over two years by questionnaire. Age, musculoskeletal pain, multisite pain (pain in ≥3 sites), musculoskeletal and other somatic diseases, depressive symptoms, physical and psychosocial workload, body mass index, smoking, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) at baseline were considered as predictors.

Does strenuous leisure time physical activity prevent severe back disorders leading to hospitalization?

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Objective: To study the associations between strenuous leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and subsequent hospitalization due to back disorders. Socioeconomic and lifestyle factors are associated with back-related hospitalization, but the significance of strenuous LTPA in the working population is unclear.

The relation of co-occurring musculoskeletal pain and depressive symptoms with work ability.

Objective: To examine the relationship of musculoskeletal pain and depressive symptoms, occurring alone or both together, with self-rated current work ability and thoughts of early retirement.

Methods: In a nationally representative sample drawn in 2000-2001, we studied actively working subjects aged 30 to 64 years (n = 4009).

Results: Musculoskeletal pain was associated with moderate/poor physical work ability (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.

Pain in multiple sites and sickness absence trajectories: a prospective study among Finns.

We studied the number of musculoskeletal pain sites as a predictor of sickness absence during a 7-year follow-up among a nationally representative sample (the Health 2000 survey) of occupationally active Finns 30 to 55years of age (3420 subjects who did not retire or die during the follow-up). Baseline data (questionnaire, interview, clinical examination by a physician) were gathered in 2000 to 2001 and linked with information from national registers on annual compensated sickness absence periods (⩾10workdays) covering the years 2002 to 2008. Pain during the preceding month in 18 body locations was inquired and combined into 4 sites (neck, upper limbs, low back, lower limbs).

Health-related effects of early part-time sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Previously we reported that early part-time sick leave enhances return to work (RTW) among employees with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). This paper assesses the health-related effects of this intervention.

Methods: Patients aged 18-60 years who were unable to perform their regular work due to MSD were randomized to part- or full-time sick leave groups.