Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28819019›Full record

ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2018

Retrospectively assessed physical work environment during working life and risk of sickness absence and labour market exit among older workers.

Emil Sundstrup, Åse Marie Hansen, Erik Lykke Mortensen, Otto Melchior Poulsen, Thomas Clausen, Reiner Rugulies, Anne Møller, Lars L Andersen

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
15.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. A meta-analysis of unemployment risk factors for middle-aged workers.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2025
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  9. Physical functioning trajectories over statutory retirement: a finnish occupational cohort study.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Emil SundstrupNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Åse Marie HansenNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Erik Lykke MortensenDepartment of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Otto Melchior PoulsenNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Thomas ClausenNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Reiner RuguliesNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Anne MøllerDepartment of Occupational Medicine, Holbæk Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Lars L AndersenNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
National Research Centre for the Working Environment · DKUniversity of Copenhagen · DKHolbæk Sygehus · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the prospective association between retrospectively assessed physical work environment during working life and prospectively assessed sickness absence and labour market exit among older workers.

methodsUsing Cox regression analyses we estimated the 4-year to 6-year prospective risk of register-based long-term sickness absence (LTSA), disability pension, early retirement and unemployment from exposure to different physical work environmental factors during working life among 5076 older workers (age 49-63 at baseline) from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank cohort.

resultsVery hard physical work throughout working life was a risk factor for LTSA (HR 1.66,95% CI 1.32 to 2.07), disability pension (HR 2.21,95% CI 1.04 to 4.72) and early retirement (HR 1.57,95% CI 1.13 to 2.17). Both short-term (<10 years) and long-term (≥20 years) exposures to lifting or carrying of heavy burdens predicted the risk of LTSA (HRs 1.49-1.56) and disability pension (HRs 2.26-3.29). In contrast, exposure to dust was associated with LTSA and disability pension only following 20 or more exposure years.

conclusionsRetrospectively assessed hard physical work during working life and exposure to several factors in the physical work environment, especially heavy lifting, were important for labour market exit and sickness absence. This study underscores the importance of reducing physical work exposures throughout the working life course for preventing sickness absence and premature exit from the labour market.

Indexed as

AbsenteeismWorkplaceFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOccupationsRegression AnalysisRetirementRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsSick Leavedisability pensionphysical workloadssickness absence

Identifiers

PMID28819019
PMCPMC5800344
OpenAlexW2749404514

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.