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Low workload as a trigger of sick leave: results from a Swedish case-crossover study
Hanna Hultin1, Jette Möller, Kristina Alexanderson
1Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Public Health Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. hanna.hultin@ki.se
Objectives:
To investigate if exposure to an unusually low workload when ill can trigger taking sick leave.
Methods:
A case-crossover design was applied to 546 sick-leave spells obtained from a cohort of 1430 employees within six Swedish workplaces. New sick-leave spells were reported from the workplaces during 3 to 12 months follow-up. Exposure was assessed in structured participant interviews at sick leave. Case and control periods from the same individual were sampled according to the matched-pair and usual-frequency approaches. Results are presented as odds ratios with surrounding 95% confidence intervals.
Results:
The odds ratio of sick leave on a day with an unusually low workload was 2.57 (confidence interval, 1.07-6.16).
Conclusions:
Becoming ill on a day with a lower workload than usual can trigger the decision to take sick leave.
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