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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
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Published on: September 30, 2020
Comparing the Relationship Between Age and Length of Disability Across Common Chronic Conditions
Arif Jetha1, Elyssa Besen, Peter M Smith
1Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, Massachusetts (Drs Jetha, Besen); Institute for Work & Health (Drs Jetha, Smith); Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Dr Smith); and School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, The Alfred Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (Dr Smith).
Objective:
The aim of this study was to compare the association between age and disability length across common chronic conditions.
Methods:
Analysis of 39,915 nonwork-related disability claims with a diagnosis of arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, depression, low back pain, chronic pulmonary disease, or cancer. Ordinary least squares regression models examined age-length of disability association across chronic conditions.
Results:
Arthritis (76.6 days), depression (63.2 days), and cancer (64.9 days) were associated with longest mean disability lengths; hypertension was related to shortest disability lengths (41.5 days). Across chronic conditions, older age was significantly associated with longer work disability. The age-length of disability association was most significant for chronic pulmonary disease and cancer. The relationship between age and length of work disability was linear among most chronic conditions.
Conclusions:
Work disability prevention strategies should consider both employee age and chronic condition diagnosis.
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