Publications (17)25.24 Total impact
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Article: Sickness absence following coronary revascularisation. A national study of women and men of working age in Sweden 1994-2006.
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ABSTRACT: Evidence based and gender specific knowledge about sickness absence following coronary revascularisation is lacking. The objective was to investigate sickness absence after a first coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) among women and men in a national Swedish study. All patients 30-63 years of age, who underwent a first CABG (n = 22,985, 16% women) or PCI (40,891, 22% women) in Sweden between 1994 and 2006 were included. Information on sickness absence, co-morbidity, and other patient characteristics was obtained from national registers. Long-term sickness absence (LTSA) was defined as >180 and >90 sick-leave days in the first sick-leave spell following CABG and PCI, respectively. Prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of LTSA were calculated. LTSA followed the interventions in 41% and 36% for CABG and PCI patients, respectively. Women had more often LTSA compared with men, (CABG PR = 1.23: 95% CI 1.19-1.28 and PCI PR = 1.19; 95% CI 1.16-1.23). A history of sickness absence the year before the intervention increased the risk for LTSA after the intervention in both genders. Among women, older age, or being self employed or unemployed was associated with a lower risk for LTSA. Among men previous cardiovascular disease, diabetes and low socio-economic position increased the risk. During the observation period, there was no change in sickness absence rates among PCI patients but an increase among CABG patients adjusting for patient characteristics. This national study covering a 13-year period shows that long-term sickness absence following coronary revascularisation is common in Sweden, especially among women, and is associated with socio-economic position, co-morbidity, and sickness absence during the year before the intervention. Gender specific scientific knowledge about use and effects of sickness absence following coronary revascularisation is warranted for the patients, the treating physicians, the healthcare sector, and the society.PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(7):e40952. · 4.09 Impact Factor -
Article: Abusive Events at Work Among Young Working Adults: Magnitude of the Problem and its Effect on Self-Rated Health
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ABSTRACT: The study examines the incidence of abusive events at work and compares the self-rated health (SRH) assessments of young workers according to whether they have been victims or not. Subjects and materials were extracted from a data set covering the environmental and health conditions of the population of the Östergötland region in Sweden. The focus was on people in paid employment aged 20-34 years. It appears that threats or acts of violence are more common than are bullying or sexual harassment among young working people, in particular among women. Further, when working conditions are relatively precarious, both men and women are comparably exposed to threat and violence but when conditions are more stable, women are proportionally more exposed than men. Furthermore, the study shows that, although less common than threat and violence are, exposure to bullying is associated with several SRH disorders among both men and women in employment.ERN: Other Organizations & Markets: Personnel Management (Topic). 08/2010; -
Article: Self-reported depression in first-year nursing students in relation to socio-demographic and educational factors: a nationwide cross-sectional study in Sweden.
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ABSTRACT: Higher education has been associated with distress and depression in students, and concerns that the proportion students afflicted is increasing have been raised. Findings on student depression have often been based on age-homogeneous samples leaving the results vulnerable to a confounding of student experience, transition from adolescence to adulthood and age on depression. We investigated self-reported depression and its associations with sociodemographic and educational factors in a demographically diverse student population of first-year nursing students in Sweden. A base-line survey in a nation-wide cohort of 1,700 first-year nursing students was conducted in the fall of 2002. The participants answered a mailed questionnaire containing questions on sociodemography, educational factors, and health. Depression was measured by the Major Depression Inventory and associations to sociodemographic and educational factors were tested in logistic regressions. The overall response rate was 72.9%, and 10.2% (5.7% men, 10.7% women) reported depression. Younger age (<30), female gender, immigration from outside of Europe, high workload, dissatisfaction with education, low self-efficacy, and conflicts between personal and college demands were associated with high prevalence of depression. Prior work experience, less need for financial support, and work for pay during term time were related to low prevalence of depression. Older students and those who were parents reported home-college conflicts more often. Nursing students as a group show high levels of self-reported depression but the prevalence is affected by age with a higher proportion depressed among younger students. Even though older students and those who were parents show less depression, they were more vulnerable to home-college conflicts. As older students and parents constitute a large proportion of nursing students, it is of importance to find ways to lessen the effects of the obstacles they encounter in the education.Social Psychiatry 03/2010; 46(4):299-310. · 2.05 Impact Factor -
Article: Methods for analysing individual changes in sick-leave diagnoses over time.
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ABSTRACT: Several methodological challenges arise when attempting to analyse individual data on changes of sick-leave diagnoses over several years. Sick-leave spells for a person can recur, have different sick-leave diagnoses, and both these aspects are dependent of previous episodes, the numbers of repeated periods vary across subjects, and standard statistical methods are not valid for variables on nominal scales, e.g. sick-leave diagnoses. Our aim was to ascertain whether the number and pattern of changes in sick-leave diagnoses are associated with future disability pension (DP) and to test methods for analysis of repeated measurements on nominal data. Data from a 12-year prospective cohort study of the 8000 sick-leave periods of the 213 persons aged 25-34 who, in 1985, had a new sick-leave spell 28 days with back diagnoses were used. We used entropies, uncertainty coefficients adjusted for repeated measurements, and transition matrices to examine the changes in sick-leave diagnoses that occurred during follow up. In the 12 years 22% were granted DP and they had changed sick-leave diagnosis less frequently and more often had new sick-leave periods with musculoskeletal diagnoses than the others. The variation in diagnoses and the degree of dependence between consecutive diagnoses were associated with DP. Many tools in statistics are based on linear methods that require numerical variables, but such methods are not valid for repeated measurements on discrete variables on nominal scales, as for sick-leave diagnosis. In such cases, it can be beneficial to use tools that are applied in statistical information theory.Work 01/2010; 36(3):283-93. · 0.52 Impact Factor -
Article: Change in depressive symptoms over higher education and professional establishment - a longitudinal investigation in a national cohort of Swedish nursing students.
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ABSTRACT: There are indications of a high prevalence of psychological distress among students in higher education and also that distress increases over the course of study. However, not all studies on student distress controlled for sociodemographic differences and few followed development of distress over an extended period through professional establishment. We investigated if there is an independent effect of time in education and the first two years in the profession on depressive symptoms and mapped change over the period in a national cohort of students. Data came from LANE, a nation-wide longitudinal panel survey of Swedish nursing students (N = 1700) who responded to annual questionnaires over five years from 2002 to 2007. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Major Depression Inventory and change over time analysed in a linear mixed effects model for repeated measures. There was a significant change in level of depressive symptoms over time: an increase from the first to later years in education and a decrease to levels similar to baseline after graduation and a year in the profession. The change in symptoms remained significant after adjustment for sociodemographic factors (p < 0.01). Symptom levels differed due to age, gender, household composition and prior nurse assistant training but change over time was similar in all groups. The correlation among the repeated measures, representing within individual correlation over time, varied between 0.44-0.60. The findings indicate an independent but transitional effect of time in education and professional establishment on depressive symptoms. We think heightened distress over education abates as the graduate accommodates to the profession. Nevertheless, within education, the differences in depressive symptoms associated to demographic factors can help identify student groups more vulnerable to distress. Also, as individual differences in distress seem to persist over time, perhaps students highly distressed in the beginning of education can be helped by awareness among educators of the elevated levels of distress in late education.BMC Public Health 01/2010; 10:343. · 2.00 Impact Factor -
Article: Differences in sickness absence in Sweden and Denmark: the cross national HAKNAK study.
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ABSTRACT: To investigate potential differences in sickness absence among public sector employees in Sweden and Denmark, and to what extent a difference was associated with age, gender, physical and psychosocial work environment exposures, lifestyle factors, self-rated health or work ability. In 2000, two cross-sectional samples of 8562 public sector employees in Sweden and Denmark were surveyed. The study outcome, self-reported number of sick-leave days the year preceding interview, was dichotomized into 7 days or less, and more than 7 days. Chi square test was used to analyse distribution of dependent and independent variables in the two sub-cohorts. Stratified logistic regression analysis was performed to identify causes for absence within the two sub-cohorts, and logistic regression analysis was performed to study differences in sickness absence levels between the two sub-cohorts. More subjects from the Swedish study population reported more than 7 days of sickness absence. Factors associated with sickness absence were largely similar in the two countries. The difference in absence level between Sweden and Denmark was not associated with differences in age, gender, skill level, lifestyle, psychosocial or physical work environment, musculoskeletal symptoms or self-rated health, whereas work ability score decreased the difference in sickness absence level. The results could indicate an increased retention of employees with health problems in the Swedish labour market compared with the Danish labour market. A possible explanation for the differences in sickness absence ascertained in this study could be due to differences in the sickness insurance legislation.The European Journal of Public Health 01/2009; 19(3):343-9. · 2.73 Impact Factor -
Article: Predictors of return to work ten months after primary breast cancer surgery.
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ABSTRACT: The most common female cancer in Western countries is breast cancer and women diagnosed with this disease are often under 65 years old. With increasing prevalence of survivors it is important to shed light on problems facing these women after diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to assess factors predicting return to work (RTW) in women with early-stage breast cancer. A cohort of 102 women aged 18-64 with early-stage breast cancer who had undergone curative primary surgery with or without systemic adjuvant therapy were followed for 10 months using data from questionnaires and medical files. Ten months after primary surgery, 59% of the women had returned to work while 41% were sick-listed part-time or full-time. After adjusting for age, health status, life satisfaction, vocational situation, and irradiation to the breast/chest wall and regional nodes, a multivariate logistic regression revealed the following factors as being negatively associated with RTW: a high-demand job (OR=0.1, 95% CI 0.0-0.8), axillary node dissection (OR=0.1, 95% CI 0.0-0.6), and treatment with chemotherapy (OR=0.1, 95% CI 0.0-0.7). Treatment factors and high demands at work play an important role in RTW for women with early-stage breast cancer.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) 11/2008; 48(1):93-8. · 2.27 Impact Factor -
Article: The influence of household work and of having children on sickness absence among publicly employed women in Sweden.
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ABSTRACT: To investigate whether family obligations influence the risk of sickness absence among female municipal employees in Sweden. A 1-year prospective cohort study of 1464 female municipal employees <50 years of age in Sweden in 2000 was conducted using questionnaire responses and absence data from the employers' personnel records. The relative risk of having children <16 years of age in the home, marital status, household work, financial situation, working hours and work-family conflicts for repeated sick-leave spells (>or=4 spells) and long-term sickness absence (>or=28 days) were calculated by applying Poisson regression models. Women reporting financial strain or work-family conflicts were at elevated risk for long-term sickness absence. Having children was not a risk factor for repeated sick-leave spells or long-term sickness absence among married/cohabiting women. Single women with children had a two-fold greater risk of repeated sick-leave spells than single women without children. The findings suggest that the combination of gainful employment and children does not influence the risk of repeated sick-leave spells or long-term sickness absence among married/cohabiting publicly employed women. However, this was not true for single women with children, which indicates that their circumstances are particularly strained.Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 08/2008; 36(6):564-72. · 1.39 Impact Factor -
Article: EXPERIENCED STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS, SELF-RATED HEALTH AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SWEDISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
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ABSTRACT: In this study we investigated whether or not problems experienced during years at university affect academic achievement. Students enrolled full-time at a Swedish university were followed up from their year of entry in 1998/1999 through to 2000/2001 (N = 1,127) by self-administered questionnaires. Students' sociodemographic characteristics, their experience of stressors, psychological symptoms, and mental and general health ratings were linked to their academic achievement (degree completed). The extent to which various factors or groups of factors affect academic achievement was measured by a series of multiple logistic regression analyses. Older students, females, and those enrolled on comparatively shorter programs (3 years) tended to have higher odds of being awarded a degree. Experienced stress brought on by not coping academically and due to study support demands was a substantial barrier to students' academic achievement.Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal 12/2007; 36(2):183-196. · 0.31 Impact Factor -
Article: Sickness absence and disability pension in a cohort of employees initially on long-term sick leave due to psychiatric disorders in Sweden.
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ABSTRACT: Over the last decade sickness absence and disability pension (DP) due to psychiatric disorders have increased considerably in Western countries. The scientific knowledge base about prognoses for such absences is very limited, but employers and clinicians often predict them to be very long. The aim of this study was to investigate sickness absence and disability pension in a cohort of employees who initially were on long-term sick leave due to psychiatric disorders, with regard to gender, age, socioeconomic status, and previous sickness absence. The cohort included 4,891 employees in Sweden, who, in 1999 were aged 20-61 and had a new sick-leave spell >90 days with a psychiatric disorder. Retrospective and prospective registry data on sickness absence and DP for 1996-2002 were obtained. Logistic regressions were performed to estimate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for having a low, intermediate, or high level of sickness absence (<17, 17-90, and 91-365 days, respectively) or DP in 2002. The mean number of sick-leave days per person per year 3 years prior to inclusion was low; 17 days, but had increased to 211 days by 2000. In 2002, 26% had been granted DP, significantly higher rate among men, while a higher rate of the women had long-term sickness absence. Of all 4,891 subjects, 35% had <17 sick-leave days in 2002. The OR of having low, intermediate, or long-term sickness absence decreased with age. The reverse was found for obtaining DP, for which also low socioeconomic status was an independent predictor of an increased risk (OR = 3.40, CI 2.28-5.08). Employees with long-term sick leave due to psychiatric disorders did not have a high level of sickness absence in the 3 years prior to inclusion in the study. Also, 3 years after inclusion, only 35% had very low levels of sickness absence, whereas 26% had been granted DP. Employees who were aged 55-61 showed the lowest risk of sick leave but the highest risk of DP. Low SES was a significant predictor of DP in 2002.Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 05/2007; 42(5):381-8. · 2.70 Impact Factor -
Article: Sex-specific suicide mortality in the South African urban context: the role of age, race, and geographical location.
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ABSTRACT: This study investigates the importance of sociodemographic and geographical characteristics for suicide risks in the South African urban context. Suicide epidemiology is under-researched in low- and middle-income countries, and such knowledge is important not only for local and national policy, but also for a global understanding of the phenomenon. Sex-specific crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for suicide by age, race, and city are assessed using logistic regression. Cases aged 45+ years, classified as "Coloured" (a category denoting mixed racial origin), and living in Cape Town are used as reference groups. Additionally, the proportion of leading suicide methods within groups was estimated (95% confidence intervals). For males, compared with each reference group, the odds of suicide are significantly higher during middle adulthood, among Asians and particularly among Whites, and among residents of all but one city. Patterns for women differ in magnitude and distribution. Suicide odds are significantly higher in all age groups, particularly 15-24 years, among Whites, and among residents of all other cities, particularly Nelson Mandela or Buffalo City. Males living in Tshwane and Black females have lower odds of suicide. The distribution of methods across age, race, and city groups varies little for males but substantially for females. Conclusions: Age, race, and city play independent roles in sex-specific suicide rates. As for high-income settings, age, race, method and city are important in sex-specific suicide in the urban South African context. Possible underlying mechanisms deserve greater attention for context-relevant preventive efforts.Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 02/2007; 35(2):133-9. · 1.39 Impact Factor -
Article: Health-related determinants of perceived quality of life: a comparison between first-year university students and their working peers.
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ABSTRACT: This study compares aspects of the health-related behaviors and working life of first-year university students with those of their working counterparts and assesses the roles of these aspects as predictors of each groups' perceived quality of life (QoL). Subjects were taken from two cross-sectional data sets (a student survey and a population survey) from the Swedish central-western region of Ostergötland. Male and female respondents aged 20-35 years were extracted and comparison were made considering in turn socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, exposure to abusive events at work and perceived QoL. University students smoked and used oral snuff in smaller proportions, they were not as frequent drinkers as their working counterparts, but they tended to drink more when they did drink. Threats and violence were less prevalent among students, but sexual harassment, were almost as common. The strongest predictors of perceived QoL for both groups are expected and former perceived QoL, followed by current self-rated health.Work 02/2006; 26(2):167-77. · 0.52 Impact Factor -
Article: Socioeconomic aspects of the circumstances and consequences of car crashes among young adults.
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ABSTRACT: The study examines whether there are socioeconomic differences between young adult car drivers involved in road-traffic crashes with regard to crash-injury severity and crash circumstances. Differences in social patterning based on socioeconomic position (SEP) of origin and of destination, and also the effect of gender, are considered. Subjects born in 1970-1972 were extracted from the Swedish Population and Housing Census of 1985 (n = 329,716). Individual records from the 1985 census were linked to road-traffic data for the period 1988-2000 on the basis of a search for each subject's first police-registered road-traffic crash as a car driver (n = 12,502). Information on household socioeconomic group was taken from the census of 1985, and data on completed education at age 28-30 were gathered from Sweden's Register of Education. Two categories of crash severity were analysed (minor/no injury and severe/fatal injury), and also five crash circumstances (based on a classification of five crash descriptors). Both crash severity and crash circumstances are unequally distributed across social groups among young adult drivers. Social patterning is more pronounced for severe injuries/fatalities, and is consistently so across crash circumstances depending on SEP of destination, particularly for males. Socioeconomic differences are more pronounced for crash circumstances characterised as front-on and overtaking collisions and for single-vehicle crashes (43% of total crashes). In conclusion,the excess risk of young drivers from lower socioeconomic groups is consistent over crash severity but more pronounced as severity increases and for certain crash circumstances.Social Science [?] Medicine 02/2005; 60(2):287-95. · 2.70 Impact Factor -
Article: Does promoting bicycle-helmet wearing reduce childhood head injuries?
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ABSTRACT: The objectives of the study are to assess the impact of a community-based bicycle-helmet program aimed at children aged 5–12 years (about 140,000). A quasi-experimental design, including a control group, was used. Sex- and age-group-based changes in the risk of bicycle-related head injury leading to hospitalisation were measured, using rate ratios. Compared with the pre-program period, significant risk reductions were observed during the post-program period among both boys (RR = 0.56, 95 per cent CI = 0.40, 0.77) and girls (RR = 0.52, 95 per cent CI = 0.33, 0.82), and among both younger (RR = 0.46, 95 per cent CI = 0.31, 0.68) and older (RR = 0.63, 95 per cent CI = 0.44, 0.89) children. A significant reduction was also observable during the program phase among the groups most at risk, i.e. boys (RR = 0.94, 95 per cent CI = 0.66, 1.35) and younger children (RR = 1.07, 95 per cent CI = 0.70, 1.63). The population-based educational program significantly decreased the risk of head injuries among boys and girls despite observable differences in the voluntary adoption rate of bicycle-helmet wearing. The impact was more pronounced among younger children.Health Education 09/2004; 104(5):290-303. -
Article: Perceived Quality of Life and Self-Rated Health among First-Year University Students
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ABSTRACT: This study compares health status and qualityof life assessments of first-year universitystudents with those of their same-age workingcounterparts. Subjects and materials for eachgroup were gathered in 1999 from twocross-sectional data sets from the Swedishregion of stergtland, covering malesand females aged 20–34 years. Subjects''perceived quality of life (QoL) and self-ratedhealth (SRH) were assessed on a 10-point scale(Ladder scale) and a five-point scale,respectively. Gender-based comparison revealedthat, for both males and females, first-yearuniversity students'' average perceived QoL waslower than that of their working counterparts(p < 0.0001="" in="" all="" instances).="" a="" higherproportion="" of="" students="" than="" expected="" ratedtheir="" health="" as="" ``average''''="" or="" as="">p < 0.0001).="" perceived="" qol="" was="" significantlycorrelated="" with="" srh="" in="" both="" groups.="" differencesin="" perceived="" qol="" and="" srh="" exist="" between="" studentsand="" their="" full-time="" working="" peers,="" and="" thedeterminants="" of="" these="" differences="" deservesgreater="" attention.="" knowledge="" of="" thedeterminants="" of="" srh="" and="" perceived="" qol="" amonguniversity="" students="" might="" then="" be="" translatedinto="" sound="" and="" effective="" public-health="" practiceand="" intervention="">Social Indicators Research 08/2004; 68(2):221-234. · 1.13 Impact Factor -
Article: Health behaviors, self-rated health, and quality of life: a study among first-year Swedish university students.
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ABSTRACT: The authors conducted a baseline investigation of male and female university students' health behaviors and self-rated health and quality of life (QOL). The study population consisted of all full-time, first-year students registered in a comprehensive study program offered at a Swedish university in autumn 1998. In spring 1999, the researchers sent self-administered questionnaires dealing with health status, lifestyle, and living conditions to the students at their home addresses. Male respondents used tobacco, were frequent drinkers, and engaged in binge drinking in larger proportions than expected by chance. A majority of the respondents rated their physical and psychological health as very good or good, but male students' ratings were higher than those of female students, whereas the males' average scores on self-perceived QOL were lower than those of females. Both male and female students' self-perceived QOL was more strongly associated with self-rated psychological than with physical health.Journal of American College Health 02/2003; 51(4):156-62. · 1.45 Impact Factor -
Article: The panorama of future sick-leave diagnoses among young adults initially long-term sickness absent due to neck, shoulder, or back diagnoses. An 11-year prospective cohort study
Top co-authors
Top Journals
Institutions
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2003–2012
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Karolinska Institutet
- • Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap
- • Institutionen för folkhälsovetenskap
Solna, Stockholm, Sweden
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2004
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Linköping University
Linköping, OEstergoetland, Sweden
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