Do gastrointestinal complaints increase the risk for subsequent medically certified long-term sickness absence? The HUSK study

BMC Gastroenterology

Research Article

Nick Glozier¹  Marit Knapstad²  Simon Øverland²  Arnstein Mykletun³  Ingvard Wilhelmsen⁴ 

[1] Brain and Mind Research Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;Division of Mental Health, National Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway;Institute of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;

关键词: Sickness absence;    gastrointestinal complaints;    anxiety;    depression;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-230X-11-88

 received in 2010-10-27, accepted in 2011-07-29,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGastrointestinal complaints are very common in the general population and very often co-occur with common mental disorders. We aimed to study the prospective impact of gastrointestinal complaints on long term sickness absence, and address the contribution from co-occurring common mental disorders and other somatic symptoms.MethodHealth data on 13 880 40-45 year olds from the Hordaland Health Study (1997-99) were linked to national registries on sickness absence. As part of a wider health screening, gastrointestinal complaints were ascertained. Participant's anxiety and depression, and the presence of other somatic symptoms were evaluated. In Cox regression models, we predicted sickness absences over an average 5.4 years follow-up, with adjustment for confounders, anxiety and depression and other somatic symptoms.ResultsAfter adjusting for gender, level of education and smoking, those reporting GI complaints had higher risk for later sickness absence (HR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.34-1.51). GI complaints were associated with both anxiety (OR = 3.66, 95% CI 3.31-4.04) and depression (OR = 3.28, 95% CI 2.89-3.72), and a high level of other somatic symptoms (OR = 8.50, 95% CI 7.69-9.40). The association of GI complaints was still independently associated with future sickness absence (HR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.10-1.16) adjusting for mental illness and other somatic symptoms.DiscussionSickness absence is a complex behavioural outcome, but our results suggest GI complaints contribute by increasing the risk of long term sickness absence independently of comorbid mental illness and presence of other somatic symptoms. Occupational consequences of illness are important, and should also be addressed clinically with patients presenting with GI complaints.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Øverland et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011