Obesity and sickness absence: results from a longitudinal nationally representative sample from Germany

TY - JOUR

T1 - Obesity and sickness absence: results from a longitudinal nationally representative sample from Germany

AU - Reber, Katrin Christiane

AU - König, Hans-Helmut

AU - Hajek, André

N1 - © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

PY - 2018/6/6

Y1 - 2018/6/6

N2 - OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed at investigating the longitudinal association between obesity and sickness absence in women and men in Germany.METHODS: Data were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) which is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of private households in Germany. We draw on data from 2002 to 2012. Information on self-rated body mass index has been collected every second wave since 2002. Sick leave days (total number of working days missed due to illness in the past calendar year) and sick from work for more than 6 weeks in the preceding 12 months (yes/no) were used as outcome measures. Fixed-effects (FE) regression models were used for the total sample and stratified by sex. Gender differences were examined using interaction terms (sex × weight category).RESULTS: Controlling for several potential confounders, Poisson FE regression analysis showed that transitions from normal weight to obesity were associated with an increase in sick leave days in women (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.27, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.57) but not in men (IRR 0.85, 95 % CI 0.68 to 1.06)-with significant gender differences (sex × obesity, p<0.01). Moreover, conditional FE logistic regressions showed that transitions from normal weight to overweight were associated with an increase in the probability of long-term absenteeism in women (overweight, OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.85) but not in men (overweight, OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.09). Gender differences were significant (sex × overweight, p<0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the longitudinal association between excess weight and increased likelihood of sick leave days as well as long-term absenteeism in women.

AB - OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed at investigating the longitudinal association between obesity and sickness absence in women and men in Germany.METHODS: Data were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) which is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of private households in Germany. We draw on data from 2002 to 2012. Information on self-rated body mass index has been collected every second wave since 2002. Sick leave days (total number of working days missed due to illness in the past calendar year) and sick from work for more than 6 weeks in the preceding 12 months (yes/no) were used as outcome measures. Fixed-effects (FE) regression models were used for the total sample and stratified by sex. Gender differences were examined using interaction terms (sex × weight category).RESULTS: Controlling for several potential confounders, Poisson FE regression analysis showed that transitions from normal weight to obesity were associated with an increase in sick leave days in women (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.27, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.57) but not in men (IRR 0.85, 95 % CI 0.68 to 1.06)-with significant gender differences (sex × obesity, p<0.01). Moreover, conditional FE logistic regressions showed that transitions from normal weight to overweight were associated with an increase in the probability of long-term absenteeism in women (overweight, OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.85) but not in men (overweight, OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.09). Gender differences were significant (sex × overweight, p<0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the longitudinal association between excess weight and increased likelihood of sick leave days as well as long-term absenteeism in women.

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019839

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019839

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

VL - 8

SP - e019839

JO - BMJ OPEN

JF - BMJ OPEN

SN - 2044-6055

IS - 6

ER -