Risk factors assessed at baseline predicting sick leave because of neck or back pain at the 18-month follow-up
| Risk factors* | n | Cases† | Crude OR | Adjusted OR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic/background factors, lifestyle factors, health-related and pain characteristics, physical factors in the work environment and psychosocial factors have been considered during the successive selection process of predictors. | ||||
| *The factors measured at baseline that were not retained in the model were sex, age, neck pain during the past year, heavy lifting, working with vibrating tools and control of work pacing. | ||||
| †The number of participants reporting sick leave due to neck or back pain. | ||||
| ‡No ORs could be computed because no cases were available in this category. | ||||
| §Higher score means more of the characteristics described. Range 1–5. | ||||
| Employment grade | ||||
| Blue-collar | 1155 | 129 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| White-collar | 407 | 17 | 0.35 (0.21 to 0.58) | 0.50 (0.28 to 0.88) |
| Back pain during the previous year | ||||
| No | 733 | 38 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes, one time | 241 | 25 | 2.12 (1.25 to 3.59) | 2.12 (1.23 to 3.63) |
| Yes, several times | 588 | 83 | 3.01 (2.01 to 4.49) | 2.74 (1.82 to 4.14) |
| Sick leave during the previous year (all causes except neck or back pain) | ||||
| No days | 699 | 44 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 1–7 days | 569 | 61 | 1.79 (1.19 to 2.68) | 1.58 (1.05 to 2.40) |
| 8–99 days | 275 | 41 | 2.61 (1.66 to 4.10) | 2.02 (1.26 to 3.23) |
| 100–365 days | 19 | 0 | –‡ | –‡ |
| Perceived prognosis of own working ability in 2 years’ time | ||||
| Almost certain | 1445 | 120 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Not certain about it | 104 | 24 | 3.31 (2.02 to 5.42) | 2.40 (1.42 to 4.06) |
| Probably not | 13 | 2 | 2.01 (0.44 to 9.16) | 0.92 (0.19 to 4.51) |
| Positive challenges at work§ | ||||
| Lowest quartile (1) 1.00–3.00 | 442 | 67 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| (2) 3.01–3.67 | 445 | 37 | 0.51 (0.33 to 0.78) | 0.57 (0.36 to 0.88) |
| (3) 3.68–4.33 | 273 | 14 | 0.30 (0.17 to 0.55) | 0.38 (0.21 to 0.72) |
| (4) 4.34–5.00 | 402 | 28 | 0.42 (0.26 to 0.67) | 0.67 (0.40 to 1.12) |