This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Research article
Minna Pihlajamäki
Tampereen Yliopisto
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1491-8771
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background: Work disability (WD) is a medico-legal concept that refers to disability benefits (DB) granted due to diseases. We assessed whether subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) – presenting as self-rated difficulties of concentration, memory, clear thinking and decision making – predict permanent WD in knowledge-intensive occupations.
Methods: We combined the SCC questionnaire results with reliable registry data on the DBs of 7,161 professional/managerial employees (46% females). We excluded employees who were on long-term sickness absence (SA) or had received a DB at baseline. The exposure variable was the presence of SCC. Age and SA before the questionnaire as a proxy measure of general health were treated as confounders and the analyses were conducted by gender. The outcome variable was a granted DB. The cumulative incidence function illustrates the difference between SCC categories, and the Fine-Gray model estimates the predictors of WD during the eight-year follow-up.
Results: The most common primary reasons for permanent WD were mental (36%) and musculoskeletal (20%) disorders. SCC predicted DB in both genders when controlling for age and prior SA. Hazard ratios were 2.9 with a 95% confidence interval 1.4-6.0 for the females and 3.7 (1.8-7.9) for the males. After eight years, 3.1% of the females and 2.8% of the males in the abnormal SCC category had received a DB, while the respective figures in the reference category were 1.9% and 1.0%.
Conclusion: Subjective cognitive complaints predict permanent WD in knowledge-intensive occupations among professional/managerial employees. This finding has implications for supporting work ability among employees with cognitively demanding tasks.
Keywords
Occupational health care, Self-reported data, Disability retirement, Register data, Subjective cognitive complaints, Fine-Gray model, Cumulative incidence function
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This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Research article
Minna Pihlajamäki
Tampereen Yliopisto
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1491-8771
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 16 Jan, 2020
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background: Work disability (WD) is a medico-legal concept that refers to disability benefits (DB) granted due to diseases. We assessed whether subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) – presenting as self-rated difficulties of concentration, memory, clear thinking and decision making – predict permanent WD in knowledge-intensive occupations.
Methods: We combined the SCC questionnaire results with reliable registry data on the DBs of 7,161 professional/managerial employees (46% females). We excluded employees who were on long-term sickness absence (SA) or had received a DB at baseline. The exposure variable was the presence of SCC. Age and SA before the questionnaire as a proxy measure of general health were treated as confounders and the analyses were conducted by gender. The outcome variable was a granted DB. The cumulative incidence function illustrates the difference between SCC categories, and the Fine-Gray model estimates the predictors of WD during the eight-year follow-up.
Results: The most common primary reasons for permanent WD were mental (36%) and musculoskeletal (20%) disorders. SCC predicted DB in both genders when controlling for age and prior SA. Hazard ratios were 2.9 with a 95% confidence interval 1.4-6.0 for the females and 3.7 (1.8-7.9) for the males. After eight years, 3.1% of the females and 2.8% of the males in the abnormal SCC category had received a DB, while the respective figures in the reference category were 1.9% and 1.0%.
Conclusion: Subjective cognitive complaints predict permanent WD in knowledge-intensive occupations among professional/managerial employees. This finding has implications for supporting work ability among employees with cognitively demanding tasks.
Figure 1
Figure 2
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