ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2019
Important work demands for reducing sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain: a prospective cohort study.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- The impact of working conditions on sickness absence among older workers: a systematic review.European journal of ageing · 2026Review
- What Are the Determinants of the Sex/Gender Difference in Duration of Work Absence for Musculoskeletal Disorders? A Mixed-Studies Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Environmental Risk Assessment of Low Back Pain in ICU Nurses: An Instrument Development Study.Journal of nursing management · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate what exposure to work demands, physical and psychosocial, is associated with lower levels of sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain in different groups, by age, gender, duration of sickness absence and work ability score.
methodsThis study was a prospective study of 4567 workers with neck or upper back pain. Data on neck or upper back pain, work demand and work ability were obtained from the Swedish Work Environment survey over a 3-year period (2009-2013). Register data on sickness absence, 1 year after each survey was conducted, were obtained from the Swedish health insurance database. Analyses were performed to estimate the association between self-reported work demands and registered sick days > 14 days. The analyses were stratified for gender, age group and work ability score.
resultsLower numbers of sick days were found for workers reporting low exposure to lifting ≥15 kg and twisted or forward-leaning work postures. Lower numbers of sick days were found for workers reporting high work control and seated work. The associations were generally stronger in the older age groups for the physical work demands.
conclusionsThe findings in this study suggest that certain physical work demands and having high control over one's work can result in lower sickness absence, especially among middle-aged and older workers with neck or upper back pain.
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Registered trials
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