Incidence Rates of Medically Certified Long-term Sickness Absence Among Japanese Employees: A Focus on Sex...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Long-term sickness absence (LTSA) poses a significant public health challenge.
• Limited data exists on LTSA incidence within the Japanese working population.
• This study addresses the data gap by examining LTSA incidence across sex and age groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the incidence of all-cause and cause-specific long-term sickness absence (LTSA).
• To analyze LTSA incidence by sex and age in a large Japanese working population.
• To identify sex differences in LTSA patterns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 10-year data (April 2012-March 2022) from 16 worksites in the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study.
• Defined LTSA as sickness absence lasting 30 days or more.
• Calculated incidence rates for all-cause and cause-specific LTSA, stratified by sex and age, using ICD-10 classifications.

Main Results:

• Females exhibited higher all-cause LTSA incidence rates (115.5 per 10,000 person-years) compared to males (89.2 per 10,000 person-years).
• Younger females (20s-30s) showed increased LTSA due to mental disorders, neoplasms, and pregnancy-related conditions.
• Older females had higher rates for musculoskeletal diseases and injuries, while males had higher rates for circulatory diseases.

Conclusions:

• Significant variations in LTSA incidence exist based on sex and age.
• These findings underscore the necessity of tailoring LTSA prevention and management strategies to employee characteristics.
• Further research into sex- and age-specific risk factors for LTSA is warranted.