Positive work-related states and long-term sickness absence: A study of register-based outcomes

Aims: To investigate the association between positive work-related states and long-term sickness absence (LTSA). The positive states that were investigated were commitment to the work-place (CW) and experience of meaning of work (MW). Methods: This association was investigated using Poisson regression analysis. Data consisted of a merge between Danish register data on sickness absence compensation and survey data collected among 9,560 employees in the Danish eldercare sector. Results: CW and MW were significantly associated with LTSA. Employees experiencing low MW had a significantly increased risk of LTSA for more than two and eight weeks, when adjusted for psychosocial work characteristics, work-time arrangements and physical workload. Compared to employees with low and high CW, employees with medium CW had a significantly decreased risk of LTSA for more than eight weeks, when adjusted for psychosocial work characteristics, work-time arrangements and physical workload. Furthermore, employees with low CW had an increased risk of LTSA for more than two weeks, but this association became borderline insignificant when adjusted for psychosocial work characteristics, work-time arrangements and physical workload. The analyses also revealed an interaction effect between CW and MW in predicting LTSA for more than eight weeks. Conclusions: CW and MW are associated with LTSA. Against our expectations, however, we found that high levels of CW and MW were not protective against LTSA. Instead, low levels of MW proved decisive in predicting LTSA, and medium levels of CW had a protective effect on LTSA for more than eight weeks.