A case‐crossover study of age group differences in objective working‐hour characteristics and short sickness absence

Abstract

Aim To investigate age group differences in objective working‐hour characteristics and their associations with short (1–3 days) sickness absence. Background Irregular working hours, that is shift work with non‐standard schedule, may influence sickness absence rates in hospital workers. Methods We collected daily working hours and the first incidence of short sickness absence from the employers’ electronic records from 2008 to 2017. A case‐crossover study compared the characteristics of the working hours 28 days preceding the sickness absence (exposure window) and 28 days earlier (control window) across 10‐year age groups (conditional logistic regression for odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)). Results Younger employees had longer working hours and more night and consecutive shifts. Extended weekly working hours were associated with short sickness absence in all age groups. Age‐related differences were few: extended working hours among oldest age group (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.01) and daily working hours in the youngest and middle‐age groups (Ors: 1.14–1.17) were associated with increased sickness absence. Conclusions Length of working hours, and night and consecutive shifts differed between age, but the associations with short sickness absence were similar across all age groups. Implications for Nursing Management Among older employees, the length of working hours should be paid special attention.

The associations of working hour characteristics with short sickness absence among part- and full-time retail workers

“…Earlier studies showed that the rate of short SA is more common among hospital workers with extended weekly working hours (5,23). In line with an earlier study among healthcare workers (23), we found that weekly working hours >40 hours increase the risk of short SA among both younger and older workers.…”

“…Furthermore, it is unclear whether age, sex, or type of work contact (part-time or full-time) play a role in the associations between working hour characteristics and short SA. Some previous studies found an increased risk of SA only among older shift workers (10) or among older employees working >40 hours/week (23). Also, a study showed that part-time workers are at higher risk of SA than full-time workers (24).…”

Patterns of working hour characteristics and risk of sickness absence among shift-working hospital employees: a data-mining cohort study

“…In general, our data-driven strategy corroborated previous hypothesis-based research on the associations of working hour characteristics with SA risks. For example, quick returns, irregular working hours and night and weekend shifts were more common in clusters associated with high SA rates ( 11 , 16 ). It was also clear both quantitatively and qualitatively (see below) that the comprehensive data clusters captured novel risk characteristics that are not usually identified when analyzing pre-defined working hour characteristics separately.…”

“…The data on SA were derived from working hour records, which include dated indicators for absence due to sickness but no diagnosis ( 15 , 16 ). SA was selected as an objective register-based outcome of high interest but was not used for deriving working hour characteristics clusters.…”

Working hour characteristics in the Finnish retail sector – a registry study on objective working hour data

“…To date, a growing body of evidence exists on the detailed working hour characteristics in the health care sector, as well as on the association of the working hour characteristics with various health-and wellbeing related outcomes [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . For example, in the health care sector short intervals between the shifts are associated with increased risk of sickness absence 10), 11) and occupational injuries 8) , and long spells of night shifts seem to increase the risk for long sickness absence 9) , and some chronic diseases like breast cancer 17) .…”