Musculoskeletal pain, work environment and retirement from labour market among middle-aged Danes 2000-2006

Problem: Early retirement from labour market constitute serious problems to the individual, to the enterprises, and to society. In Denmark musculoskeletal problems account for around 30-40% of long-term sickness absence. Environmental factors of the work place play important roles in this context. Objectives: The aim of the project is to study the effect of musculoskeletal pain and work environment factors on 1) Early retirement (incapacity benefit or early retirement benefit), and 2) flex-job (flexible job for people with a reduced ability to work). Methodology: Base-line survey data (year 2000) were collected by scales on pain of back and extremities (four response categories from not-at-all to all-the-time) from a sample of 7588 Danish men and women aged 40 and 50 years. Work environment was measured by the use of questions from COPSOQ, the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and by questions on physical work environmental factors. Responses were dichotomised into high and low exposure. A follow-up survey in 2006 collected data on early retirement, and on flex-job. After exclusion of persons who were unemployed at baseline, 4177 were included in the prospective analyses. By logistic regression we calculated odds ratio (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) for early retirement and flex-job, controlling for age, sex, occupational social position, co-habitation status, alcohol consumption, and depressive symptoms at base-line. Results: Preliminary results showed that all-the-time-pain significantly increased the odds of early retirement (OR=5.38, CI: 2.37-12.21), and of flex-job (OR=4.56, CI: 1.99-10.49). Among psycho-social work environment factors emotional demands significantly affected the outcomes. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the association between musculoskeletal pain and early retirement and reduced labour market participation of middle aged men and women seems to be mediated by factors of the work environment. These factors may affect men and women differently.