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Impact of pregnancy on gender differences in sickness absence

Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden, Correspondence address: Kristina Alexanderson, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden

Adam Sydsjö

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden

Gunnel Hensing

Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden

Gunilla Sydsjö

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden

John Carstensen

Tema Research Institute, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Women in general have a higher sickness absence than men, and sickness absence is particularly high among pregnant women.

Study objectives: To study the level of male sickness absence as compared to female, including and excluding pregnant women. Design: Studies of incidence and length of sickness absence exceeding 7 days using population-based sick-leave records. Setting: The community of Linköping, Sweden, 117,000 inhabitants.

Participants: Subjects included in the analysis were all men and women aged 16–44 who in 1985 or 1986 had at least one sick-leave spell exceeding 7 days.

Results: Pregnant women had a very high sickness absence. When pregnant women were excluded, the female sick-leave rate decreased from 0.18 (95% C.I. 0.17–0.18) to 0.15 (95% C.I. 0.15–0.16) for all women. The corresponding male sick-leave rate was 0.12 (95% c.i. 0.12–0.13). Gender differences in length of sickness absence decreased to the same extent. The results were similar when restricting the analysis to employed persons. The decrease varied a little with occupational group and was largest in the age-group 25–34. Conclusions: When pregnant women were excluded the excess female sick-leave rate was halved, but still remained 25% higher than the male. The impact of excluding pregnant women was highest in the age group 25–34, where the fertility-rate was highest. Although only 5% of all women aged 16–44 were pregnant, they had a large impact on gender differences in sickness absence.

Key Words: sickness absence • gender differences • pregnancy.

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 24, No. 3, 169-176 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489602400308


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