Musculoskeletal pain and re-employment among unemployed job seekers: a three-year follow-up study

Abstract

BackgroundPoor health is a potential risk factor for not finding employment among unemployed individuals. We investigated the associations between localized and multiple-site musculoskeletal pain and re-employment in a three-year follow-up of unemployed job seekers.MethodsUnemployed people (n = 539) from six localities in southern Finland who participated in various active labour market policy measures at baseline in 2002/2003 were recruited into a three-year health service intervention trial. A questionnaire was used to collect data on musculoskeletal health and background characteristics at baseline and on employment status at the end of the follow-up. We conducted a complete case (n = 284) and multiple imputation analyses using logistic regression to investigate the association between baseline musculoskeletal pain and re-employment after three years.ResultsParticipants with severe pain in the lower back were less likely to become re-employed. This was independent of potential confounding variables. Pain in the hands/upper extremities, neck/shoulders, lower extremities, as well as multiple site were not determinants of re-employment.ConclusionsOur findings lend some support to the hypothesis that poor health can potentially cause health selection into employment. There is the need to disentangle health problems in order to clearly appreciate their putative impact on employment. This will allow for more targeted interventions for the unemployed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3200-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Fraction and Number of Unemployed Associated with Self-Reported Low Back Pain: A Nation-Wide Cross-Sectional Study in Japan

“…Our results are consistent with previous studies, showing that self-reported LBP is associated with unemployment [12,13,31]. This study also reveals the gender differences in this association.…”

“…Moreover, the definition of self-reported LBP adopted in this study is different from the definition of self-reported LBP in previous studies [6,10,14,19,22]. However, it is consistent with the results of previous studies reporting the association between self-reported LBP and unemployment and suggests that LBP is the most important factor in disability and social costs [1,3,4,[12][13][14]31]. Therefore, it is considered that the results of this study are supported by the results of previous studies.…”

Does Work Disability Contribute to Trajectories of Work Participation before and after Vocational Labour Market Training for Job Seekers?

“…People with health problems have lower employment rates [1][2][3], a higher likelihood of employment exit through unemployment or other routes [4][5][6][7][8][9], and a lower likelihood of re-employment [4,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] than people without these problems. Health issues have, therefore, received special attention with respect to interventions promoting work participation [1,[17][18][19][20].…”

The Factors Predicting Quality of Life Among Unemployed Adults: A Model Based on Salutogenic Approach

“…Although the number of unemployed people in Finland has decreased, that of long-term unemployed (unemployment duration at least a year) has remained high. This is partly due to the fact that people with health problems are at risk of becoming unemployed (Porru et al 2019;Wagenaar et al 2015;van Rijn et al 2014), and they are less likely to find a new job (Nwaru et al 2016). It was found, indeed, that only 15% of a sample of Finnish long-term unemployed was able to work (Kerätär et al 2016).…”