Table 3

Associations between number of frailty symptoms and employment outcomes and perceptions

N (%) with work outcome among participants with no frailty symptomsRisk factor
‘Prefrail’ (1–2 vs 0 symptoms) ‘Frail’ (3–5 vs 0 symptoms)
OutcomesN (%)OR (95% CI)PAFN (%)OR (95% CI)PAF
PositivePositive
Entire sample (n=8095)
Not in work vs in work1468 (28.1)906 (35.4)1.4 (1.2,1.6)9.7%235 (75.1)10.5 (7.9,14.1)8.2%
Left for a health reason vs not280 (5.4)433 (16.9)3.7 (3.1,4.3)34.9%189 (60.4)30.0 (23.0,39.2)20.3%
Those in work (n=5486)
Sick leave, days past 12 months (max n=5457):
 Any vs none1468 (39.4)827 (50.8)1.5 (1.4,1.7)12.2%54 (70.1)3.4 (2.1,5.5)1.6%
 >20 days vs ≤20 days168 (4.5)169 (10.4)2.5 (2.0,3.1)27.6%26 (33.8)10.7 (6.5,17.7)6.5%
Cut down on work, past 12 months:
 Any vs none787 (21.1)596 (36.5)2.2 (1.9,2.4)22.2%56 (72.7)10.0 (6.0,16.6)3.5%
 A lot vs not a lot (none/a little)128 (3.4)155 (9.5)3.0 (2.3,3.8)33.0%29 (37.7)17.2 (10.5,28.4)8.8%
Coping with work's physical demands (vs easily):
 With some/great difficulty848 (22.9)691 (42.0)2.4 (2.2,2.8)25.5%61 (81.3)14.8 (8.2,26.6)3.6%
Coping with work's mental demands (vs easily):
 With some/great difficulty1029 (27.9)640 (38.9)1.7 (1.5,1.9)14.8%47 (62.7)4.5 (2.8,7.3)2.1%
Expecting to be able to cope in 2 years’ time (vs yes):
 No/not sure717 (19.4)566 (34.6)2.1 (1.9,2.4)22.3%59 (78.7)14.5 (8.2,25.4)4.1%
Lying awake at night worrying about work (vs sometimes/rarely/never):
 Often375 (10.1)300 (18.2)2.0 (1.7,2.3)20.8%28 (36.8)1.2 (1.0,1.4)3.2%
Job security (vs secure/very secure):
 Insecure/very insecure671 (18.2)341 (20.8)5.1 (3.2,8.3)5.6%29 (38.7)3.0 (1.9,4.8)1.9%
  • All estimates are adjusted for age and gender.

  • PAF, population attributable fraction.