Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women

Suur-Uski, Johanna; Pekkala, Johanna; Blomgren, Jenni; Pietiläinen, Olli; Rahkonen, Ossi; Mänty, Minna

doi:10.3390/ijerph16183477

Open AccessArticle

Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women

by

Johanna Suur-Uski

^1,*,†,

Johanna Pekkala

^1,*,†,

Jenni Blomgren

²

,

Olli Pietiläinen

¹,

Ossi Rahkonen

¹

and

Minna Mänty

^1,3

¹

Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland

²

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, FIN-00100 Helsinki, Finland

³

Department of Research, Development and InnovationLaurea University of Applied Sciences, City of Vantaa, FIN 01200 Vantaa, Finland

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

Equal contribution.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(18), 3477; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183477

Submission received: 15 August 2019 / Revised: 12 September 2019 / Accepted: 15 September 2019 / Published: 18 September 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workplace Health and Wellbeing 2019)

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Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Western countries with clear socioeconomic differences. Higher occupational class is associated with higher breast cancer incidence but with better survival from the disease, whereas lower occupational class is associated with higher risk of sickness absence. We are not aware of previous studies examining changes over time in occupational class differences in sickness absence due to breast cancer. This paper focuses on occupational class differences in the incidence and duration of sickness absence due to breast cancer over the period of 2005–2013. Age-adjusted occupational class differences in the cumulative incidence and duration of sickness absence due to breast cancer were calculated utilising a nationally representative 70% random sample of employed Finnish women aged 35–64 years (yearly N varying between 499,778 and 519,318). The results show that higher occupational class was associated with higher annual cumulative incidence of sickness absence due to breast cancer. Lower occupational class was associated with longer duration of absence. Occupational class differences in both cumulative incidence and duration of absence remained broadly stable. As a conclusion, these results suggest that measures should be targeted particularly to promotion of work capacity among employees with breast cancer in lower occupational classes.

Keywords: sickness absence; breast cancer; occupational class differences; trend

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MDPI and ACS Style

Suur-Uski, J.; Pekkala, J.; Blomgren, J.; Pietiläinen, O.; Rahkonen, O.; Mänty, M. Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3477. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183477

AMA Style

Suur-Uski J, Pekkala J, Blomgren J, Pietiläinen O, Rahkonen O, Mänty M. Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(18):3477. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183477

Chicago/Turabian Style

Suur-Uski, Johanna, Johanna Pekkala, Jenni Blomgren, Olli Pietiläinen, Ossi Rahkonen, and Minna Mänty. 2019. "Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 18: 3477. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183477

APA Style

Suur-Uski, J., Pekkala, J., Blomgren, J., Pietiläinen, O., Rahkonen, O., & Mänty, M. (2019). Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(18), 3477. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183477

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Occupational Class Differences in Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Breast Cancer during 2005–2013: A Population-Based Study among Finnish Women

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