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

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about future sick-leave diagnoses among individuals on long-term sickness absence. The aim of this study was to describe the panorama of sick-leave diagnoses over time among young adults initially sick-listed for ≥ 28 days due to back, neck, or shoulder diagnoses</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An 11-year prospective population-based cohort study including all 213 individuals in a Swedish municipality who, in 1985, were aged 25–34 years and had a new sick-leave spell ≥ 28 days due to neck, shoulder, or back diagnoses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over the 11-year period, the young adults in this cohort had 176,825 sick-leave days in 7,878 sick-leave periods (in 4,610 sick-leave spells) due to disorders in 17 of the 18 ICD-8 diagnostic categories (International Classification of Diseases, Revision 8). Musculoskeletal or mental diagnoses accounted for most of the sick-leave days, whereas most of the sick-leave periods were due to musculoskeletal, respiratory, or infectious disorders, or to unclassified symptoms. Most cohort members had had four to eight different sick-leave diagnoses over the 11 years, although some had had up to 11 diagnoses. Only two individuals (1%) had been sickness absent solely due to musculoskeletal diagnoses.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the young adults initially were sick listed with back, neck, or shoulder diagnoses, their sickness absence during the follow up were due to a wide variety of other medical diagnoses. It might be that the ill-health content of sickness absence due to back pain is greater than usually assumed. More research on prognoses of sick-leave diagnoses among long-term sick listed is warranted.</p

Gap Waveguide PMC Packaging for Improved Isolation of Circuit Components in High-Frequency Microwave Modules

In this paper, perfect magnetic conductor (PMC)-based packaging technique was used to improve the isolation performance among various microwave circuit components such as high-gain amplifier chains. In this approach, a periodic structure (such as metal pin rows) together with the ground plane of the substrate created a stopband for unwanted parallel plate or cavity modes as well as substrate modes, and thereby suppressed the problems of circuit resonances and related package phenomena. This paper describes two Ka-band amplifier chains that were tested with this new packaging technique. Firstly, a single amplifier chain was tested for maximum stable gain operation, and it was found that the stable gain of >65 dB was achieved, whereas traditional metal wall package with RF absorber offered stable gain of 40 dB, thus showing significant isolation improvement. Secondly, two high-gain amplifier chains were placed side by side and their mutual isolation was tested. With the proposed gap waveguide packaging, a minimum isolation of 78 dB was achieved, whereas a complete metal shield provided a minimum isolation of only 64 dB over the band of interest

Work disability before and after a major cardiovascular event: a ten-year study using nationwide medical and insurance registers

We examined the trajectories of work disability before and after IHD and stroke events. New IHD (n = 13521) and stroke (n = 7162) cases in 2006-2008 were retrieved from nationwide Swedish hospital records and their annual work disability days five years before and after the date of diagnosis were retrieved from a nationwide disability register. There was no pre-event differences in disability days between the IHD and stroke cases and five years prior to the event, they were close to those observed in the general population. In the first post-event year, the adjusted mean days increased to 83.9 (95% CI 80.6-86.5) in IHD; to 179.5 (95% CI 172.4-186.8) in stroke, a six-fold increase in IHD and 14-fold in stroke. Work disability leveled off among the IHD cases but not among those who had stroke. The highest disability levels for the fifth post-event year after a stroke event was associated with pre-existing diabetes (146.9), mental disorder (141.2), non-employment (137.0), and immigrant status (117.9). In a working-age population, the increase in work disability after a cardiovascular event decreases close to the pre-event level in IHD but remains particularly high after stroke; among patients with comorbid depression or diabetes, immigrants, and those not in employment

Did the Eurasian ice sheets melt completely in early Marine Isotope Stage 3? New evidence from Norway and a synthesis for Eurasia

We describe glaci-lacustrine sediments buried under thick tills in Folldalen, south-east Norway, a site located close to the former centre of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. Thus, the location implies that the ice sheet had melted when the sediments were deposited. The exposed ground was occupied by arctic vegetation. The best age estimate from 20 quartz luminescence dates is 55.6 ± 4.6 ka. Due to possible incomplete bleaching, an age in the younger part of the time range is most probable. We conclude that the Scandinavian Ice Sheet melted almost completely away early in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. Our review shows that the other Eurasian ice sheets also disappeared in that period. In north-western Germany, there were forests, containing warmth-demanding trees early in MIS 3, indicating a summer climate only slightly cooler than at present, thus supporting the evidence that the adjacent ice sheets had melted. The melting of the Eurasian ice sheets contributed to 50–100% of the sea-level rise from MIS 4 to MIS 3, implying that the much larger North American ice sheets did not melt much. In contrast, the Eurasian ice sheets contributed only about 30% to the sea-level drop from MIS 3 to MIS 2, meaning that the North American ice sheets during that period expanded strongly.publishedVersio

Recurrence and Polya number of general one-dimensional random walks

The recurrence properties of random walks can be characterized by P\'{o}lya number, i.e., the probability that the walker has returned to the origin at least once. In this paper, we consider recurrence properties for a general 1D random walk on a line, in which at each time step the walker can move to the left or right with probabilities $l$ and $r$, or remain at the same position with probability $o$ ($l+r+o=1$). We calculate P\'{o}lya number $P$ of this model and find a simple expression for $P$ as, $P=1-\Delta$, where $\Delta$ is the absolute difference of $l$ and $r$ ($\Delta=|l-r|$). We prove this rigorous expression by the method of creative telescoping, and our result suggests that the walk is recurrent if and only if the left-moving probability $l$ equals to the right-moving probability $r$.Comment: 3 page short pape

Trends in work disability with mental diagnoses among social workers in Finland and Sweden in 2005-2012

AIMS: Social workers report high levels of stress and have an increased risk for hospitalisation with mental diagnoses. However, it is not known whether the risk of work disability with mental diagnoses is higher among social workers compared with other human service professionals. We analysed trends in work disability (sickness absence and disability pension) with mental diagnoses and return to work (RTW) in 2005-2012 among social workers in Finland and Sweden, comparing with such trends in preschool teachers, special education teachers and psychologists. METHODS: Records of work disability (>14 days) with mental diagnoses (ICD-10 codes F00-F99) from nationwide health registers were linked to two prospective cohort projects: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2005-2011 and the Insurance Medicine All Sweden database, years 2005-2012. The Finnish sample comprised 4849 employees and the Swedish 119 219 employees covering four occupations: social workers (Finland 1155/Sweden 23 704), preschool teachers (2419/74 785), special education teachers (832/14 004) and psychologists (443/6726). The reference occupations were comparable regarding educational level. Risk of work disability was analysed with negative binomial regression and RTW with Cox proportional hazards. RESULTS: Social workers in Finland and Sweden had a higher risk of work disability with mental diagnoses compared with preschool teachers and special education teachers (rate ratios (RR) 1.43-1.91), after adjustment for age and sex. In Sweden, but not in Finland, social workers also had higher work disability risk than psychologists (RR 1.52; 95% confidence interval 1.28-1.81). In Sweden, in the final model special education teachers had a 9% higher probability RTW than social workers. In Sweden, in the final model the risks for work disability with depression diagnoses and stress-related disorder diagnoses were similar to the risk with all mental diagnoses (RR 1.40-1.77), and the probability of RTW was 6% higher in preschool teachers after work disability with depression diagnoses and 9% higher in special education teachers after work disability with stress-related disorder diagnoses compared with social workers. CONCLUSION: Social workers appear to be at a greater risk of work disability with mental diagnoses compared with other human service professionals in Finland and Sweden. It remains to be studied whether the higher risk is due to selection of vulnerable employees to social work or the effect of work-related stress in social work. Further studies should focus on these mechanisms and the risk of work disability with mental diagnoses among human service professionals

Is There an Association between Long-Term Sick Leave and Disability Pension and Unemployment beyond the Effect of Health Status? – A Cohort Study

Background: Studies have shown that long-term sick leave is a strong predictor of disability pension. However, few have aimed to disentangle the effect of sick leave and of health status. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between long-term sick leave and disability pension and unemployment, when taking health status into account. Methods/Principal Findings: The study was based on the Stockholm Public Health Cohort, restricted to 13,027 employed individuals (45.9 % men) aged 18–59 in 2002 and followed until 2007. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95 % Confidence Interval (CI) were estimated by Cox regression models adjusting for socio-demographic factors and five measures of health status. Having been on long-term sick leave increased the risk of disability pension (HR 4.01; 95 % CI 3.19–5.05) and longterm unemployment (HR 1.45; 95 % CI 1.05–2.00), after adjustment for health status. The analyses of long-term sick leave due to specific illness showed that the increased risk for long-term unemployment was confined to the group on sick leave due to musculoskeletal (HR 1.70 95 % CI 1.00–2.89) and mental illness (HR 1.80 95 % CI 1.13–2.88) and further that there was an increased risk for short-term unemployment in the group on sick leave due to mental illness (HR1.57 95%CI 1.09–2.26). Conclusions/Significance: Long-term sick leave increases the risks of both disability pension and unemployment even when taking health status into account. The results support the hypothesis that long-term sick leave may start a process o

Length of sick leave as a risk marker of hip fracture: a nationwide cohort study from Sweden

Introduction Number of sick leave days is a risk marker for future health outcomes, but few studies have examined its association with major public health concerns in old age, such as osteoporotic fractures. The aim of this prospective, nation- wide, population-based cohort study based on Swedish regis- ters was to investigate the association between number of sick leave days and future risk of hip fracture. Methods Participants included were all 983,244 individuals who were living in Sweden on 31 December 1995, aged 50 to 64 years, employed, and with no previous hip fracture. Those with sick leave days in 1995 were compared to those with no sickness absence. Incidence of hip fracture was followed from 1996 to 2010. Results According to Cox regression models adjusted for sociodemographic factors and morbidity, being on sick leave more than 3 months, irrespective of cause, was associated with a 2.0-fold (hazard ratio (HR) 1.96, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.74–2.20) and 1.4-fold (HR 1.40, 95 % CI 1.27–1.56) increased risk of hip fracture in men and women, respectively. Analyses repeated among those with previous non-hip fractures replicated the significant associations. Conclusion This nationwide cohort study suggests that sick- ness absence in working-age women and men is a risk marker of hip fracture at old ages.</p