ArticleBMC public health2022
Health-related selection into employment among the unemployed.
Article in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Associations Between Employment and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Reviews.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of unemployment risk factors for middle-aged workers.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2025Pooled it
- Fear of progression and associated factors in glaucoma patients: a latent profile analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Unemployment and sickness allowance onset and prevalence: a longitudinal register-based study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Employment pathways of full and partial disability pensioners in Finland: a sequence analysis.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Unmet need for healthcare services among unemployed people - findings from a national survey in Finland.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic disparities in the trends of inpatient utilization for middle-aged and older adults in China: the perspective of international comparison from four cohorts.Global health research and policy · 2025Article
- Compounding risks of chronic health conditions and substance use disorder on healthcare burden in the USA: Analysis of NSDUH data (2021-2023).Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- Labour market trajectory clusters and utilisation of healthcare and benefits among the long-term unemployed: a Finnish population-based study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of mental disorders and work ability among unemployed individuals in Germany: a register-based analysis of socio-medical assessments by the Federal Employment Agency between 2016 and 2021.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Unemployment and associations with diagnosed health problems in the Norwegian GP-DEP study: a repeated cross-sectional register study (2010-2016).BMJ public health · 2025Article
- A complex systems lens can help us understand drivers of emerging challenges in work and health.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2024Article
- Disruption and selection: the income gradient in mortality among natives and migrants in Sweden.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Psychiatric Morbidity, Utilization and Quality of Mental Health Care in Long-Term Unemployed People.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Values, Health and Well-Being of Young Europeans Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSuccessful transitions from unemployment to employment are an important concern, yet little is known about health-related selection into employment. We assessed the association of various physical and psychiatric conditions with finding employment, and employment stability.
methodsUsing total population register data, we followed Finnish residents aged 30-60 with an unemployment spell during 2009-2018 (n = 814,085) for two years from the onset of unemployment. We predicted any, stable, and unstable employment by health status using Cox proportional hazards models. The data on specialized health care and prescription reimbursement were used to identify any alcohol-related conditions and poisonings, psychiatric conditions and self-harm, injuries, and physical conditions. We further separated physical conditions into cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurological conditions, and psychiatric conditions into depression, anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.
resultsThe likelihood of any employment was lower among those who had any of the assessed health conditions. It was lowest among those with alcohol-related or psychiatric conditions with an age-adjusted hazard ratio of 0.45 (95% confidence interval 0.44, 0.46) among men and 0.39 (0.38, 0.41) among women for alcohol-related and 0.64 (0.63, 0.65) and 0.66 (0.65, 0.67) for psychiatric conditions, respectively. These results were not driven by differences in socioeconomic characteristics or comorbidities. All the included conditions were detrimental to both stable and unstable employment, however alcohol-related and psychiatric conditions were more harmful for stable than for unstable employment.
conclusionsThe prospects of the unemployed finding employment are reduced by poor health, particularly alcohol-related and psychiatric conditions. These two conditions may also lead to unstable career trajectories. The selection process contributes to the health differentials between employed and unemployed people. Unemployed people with health problems may therefore need additional support to improve their chances of employment.
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