Sickness allowance histories among disability retirees due to mental disorders: A retrospective case-control study

The aim was to describe sickness allowance histories before disability retirement due to mental disorders and to examine whether receiving sickness allowance due to mental disorders and somatic conditions predicts future disability retirement.

Pre-retirement sickness allowance histories were traced backwards for 7 years among Finnish residents aged 25-64 years who had retired due to mental disorders in 2011 (n=5.544). For each retiree, five sex- and age-matched controls were drawn from the non-retired population. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the risk for disability retirement by sickness allowance history and to control for the effects of educational level, social class, marital status and the urbanisation level of the municipality.

The proportion of sickness allowance recipients increased steadily during the years preceding disability retirement, and was highest among those who retired due to bipolar disorders or depression. Those who had received sickness allowance due to mental disorders 6-7 years earlier had 6.5 times higher risk and those with sickness allowance 1-2 years earlier 11.7 times higher risk for disability retirement. Sickness allowance due to somatic conditions increased the risk for disability retirement 1.6-1.9 times. Sickness allowance most strongly predicted retirement due to bipolar disorders and depression. Adjustment for covariates had little effect.

Those who retired due to mental disorders more often had sickness allowance due to both mental disorders and somatic conditions, but in particular sickness allowance due to mental disorders predicted disability retirement due to mental disorders.