Absence from work or school in young adults with congenital heart disease: is illness identity associated with absenteeism?
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Published on: September 21, 2018
Inwon Na1, Liesbet Van Bulck1,2, Jessica Rassart3
1KU Leuven Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35, Box 7001, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Insights
Young adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) frequently miss work or school. Those who strongly identify with their CHD are more likely to be absent, suggesting illness identity as a potential intervention target.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Absence from work or school is a significant issue for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD).
- The role of illness identity in predicting absenteeism among young adults with CHD remains understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of work or school absence in young adults with CHD.
- To investigate the relationship between dimensions of illness identity and absenteeism in this population.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study included 255 young adults with CHD.
- Self-reported data on absence over 12 months were collected using the Illness Identity Questionnaire.
- Propensity weighting and doubly robust estimations were used to analyze data.
Main Results:
- 69% of young adults with CHD reported absence from work or school.
- 15% of patients reported absence specifically due to CHD.
- A strong sense of illness identity, particularly 'engulfment,' was significantly associated with both all-cause and CHD-related absence.
Conclusions:
- Young adults with CHD who integrate their condition into their self-identity are more prone to absenteeism.
- Illness identity, specifically engulfment, is a significant predictor of work/school absence in CHD patients.
- Findings suggest illness identity may be a modifiable target for interventions aimed at reducing absenteeism in young adults with CHD.
Aims:
Absence from work or school in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) is an understudied domain. Illness identity, which is the degree to which a chronic illness is integrated into one's identity, could be hypothesized to be a predictor for absenteeism. This study determined the proportion of young adults with CHD absent from work or school and examined if illness identity dimensions were related to absenteeism.
Methods And Results:
In a cross-sectional study, we included 255 patients with CHD. Data on absence from work or school over the past 12 months were obtained using self-report. The Illness Identity Questionnaire was used, which comprises four illness identity dimensions: rejection, engulfment, acceptance, and enrichment. Linear models with doubly robust estimations were computed after groups were balanced using propensity weighting. Absence from work/school occurred in 69% of young adults with CHD. Absence because of CHD specifically was present in 15% of the patients. Engulfment was significantly related to both all-cause absence and absence for CHD reasons.
Conclusions:
Patients who strongly define themselves in terms of their heart disease were more likely to be absent from work or school than those who did not. If this finding can be confirmed in future research, it has the potential to be a target for intervention to influence work/school absence.
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