Table 1.
Patient characteristics comparing patients who were on no, graded, or full sickness absence at time of initial consultation questionnaire (N = 5143)
| Full Sample (N = 5143) |
No Sickness Absence (n = 2568) |
Graded Sickness Absence (n = 1164) |
Full Sickness Absence (n = 1411) |
Test statistic F(df)/ χ2(df) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||||
| Age | 44.70 (11.50) | 44.52 (12.10) | 45.08 (10.44) | 44.70 (11.50) | 0.93 (2) |
| Sex | 82.08 (2)*** | ||||
| Female | 2751 (53.5%) | 1331 (51.8%) | 752 (64.6%) | 668 (47.3%) | |
| Male | 2392 (46.5%) | 1237 (48.2%) | 412 (35.4%) | 743 (52.7%) | |
| Education Level | 188.29 (2)*** | ||||
| Primary, vocational, or senior high school | 2730 (53.8%) | 1150 (44.8%) | 640 (55%) | 940 (66.6%) | |
| College or university | 2349 (46.2%) | 1393 (54.2%) | 513 (44.1%) | 443 (31.4%) | |
| Marital Status | 5.21 (2) | ||||
| Married/In partnership | 3872 (76.3%) | 1954 (76.1%) | 891 (76.5%) | 1027 (72.8%) | |
| Single | 1203 (23.7%) | 585 (22.8%) | 259 (22.3%) | 359 (25.4%) | |
| Nationality | 29.56 (2)*** | ||||
| Norwegian | 4479 (87.1%) | 2283 (88.9%) | 1025 (88.1%) | 1171 (83%) | |
| Other | 664 (12.9%) | 285 (11.1%) | 139 (11.9%) | 240 (17%) | |
| Employment Characteristics | |||||
| Occupation (4 most common) | 422.9 (92)*** | ||||
| Health professional | 507 (10.7%) | 263 (10.2%) | 134 (11.5%) | 110 (7.8%) | |
| Sales worker | 375 (7.9%) | 177 (6.9%) | 91 (7.8%) | 107 (7.6%) | |
| Teaching professional | 362 (7.6%) | 199 (7.7%) | 88 (7.6%) | 75 (5.3%) | |
| Personal care worker | 338 (7.1%) | 138 (5.4%) | 102 (8.8%) | 98 (6.9%) | |
| Current Work Ability Rating | 5.11 (2.96) | 6.87 (2.07) | 4.42 (2.04) | 2.32 (2.64) | 986.72 (2)*** |
| Physical and Mental Work Capability | |||||
| Physical job demands | 2.95 (1.18) | 3.45 (0.96) | 2.79 (1.03) | 2.19 (1.21) | 362.04 (2)*** |
| Mental job demands | 3.91 (1.03) | 4.11 (0.86) | 3.88 (1.02) | 3.60 (1.22) | 60.89 (2)*** |
| Job Satisfaction | 7.91 (2.09) | 8.07 (1.92) | 7.95 (2.00) | 7.58 (2.42) | 25.50 (2)*** |
| Perception of Employer’s RTW Motivation | 4283 (93.9%) | 2015 (78.5%) | 1089 (93.6%) | 1179 (83.6%) | 168.45 (2)*** |
| Pain Characteristics | |||||
| Duration of Current Pain | 148.73 (2)*** | ||||
| < 3 months | 288 (%) | 126 (%) | 68 (%) | 94 (%) | |
| 3–12 months | 1812 (%) | 696 (%) | 521 (%) | 595 (%) | |
| ≥ 1 year | 2947 (%) | 1694 (%) | 560 (%) | 693 (%) | |
| Causes of Pain | |||||
| Number reported | 1.69 (1.36) | 1.62 (1.37) | 1.74 (1.30) | 1.78 (1.37) | 6.83 (2)*** |
| Number of Pain Areas | 6.28 (5.10) | 5.73 (4.73) | 6.71 (5.19) | 6.92 (5.53) | 30.71 (2)*** |
| Pain Experience | |||||
| At rest | 5.19 (2.25) | 4.91 (2.26) | 5.24 (2.16) | 5.65 (2.24) | 49.51 (2)*** |
| During activity | 6.16 (2.20) | 5.65 (2.26) | 6.28 (1.99) | 6.99 (1.99) | 179.75 (2)*** |
| Low Back Pain-related Disability (ODI) | 28.58 (13.74) | 24.18 (11.89) | 29.18 (11.97) | 36.12 (14.87) | 289.49 (2)*** |
| Neck Pain-related Disability (NDI) | 16.69 (7.51) | 14.21 (6.65) | 17.58 (6.54) | 20.11 (8.13) | 143.03 (2)*** |
| Treatment Characteristics | |||||
| Primary Diagnosis | 41.68 (14)*** | ||||
| Neck | |||||
| Non-specific condition | 1054 (20.5%) | 518 (20.2%) | 251 (21.6%) | 285 (20.2%) | |
| Neurol. dysfunction | 129 (2.5%) | 51 (2%) | 38 (3.3%) | 40 (2.8%) | |
| Other specific conditions | 2 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (0.2%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Back | |||||
| Non-specific condition | 2442 (47.5%) | 1252 (48.8%) | 509 (43.7%) | 681 (48.3%) | |
| Neurol. dysfunction | 452 (8.8%) | 221 (8.6%) | 91 (7.8%) | 140 (9.9%) | |
| Other specific conditions | 60 (1.2%) | 40 (1.6%) | 7 (0.6%) | 13 (0.9%) | |
| Additional diagnosis | 103 (2%) | 59 (2.3%) | 24 (2.1%) | 20 (1.4%) | |
| Not given | 901 (17.5%) | 427 (16.6%) | 242 (20.8%) | 232 (16.4%) | |
| General Health | |||||
| 30-Day Number of Health Problems | 11.77 (5.66) | 11.13 (5.59) | 12.45 (5.57) | 12.37 (5.74) | 33.05 (2)*** |
| Health Related Quality of Life (EQ-5D-5L) | |||||
| Health Today | 55.89 (19.25) | 62.24 (17.42) | 53.01 (16.77) | 46.19 (19.83) | 307.45 (2)*** |
| WePP Index | 0.75 (0.16) | 0.79 (0.13) | 0.75 (0.14) | 0.68 (0.19) | 200.99 (2)*** |
| Mental Health Characteristics | |||||
| Fear-Avoidance Beliefs for Back Pain | |||||
| Physical activity score | 12.20 (5.69) | 11.10 (5.56) | 12.11 (5.31) | 14.27 (5.66) | 143.85 (2)*** |
| Work score | 19.86 (11.14) | 14.45 (9.63) | 22.14 (9.26) | 27.85 (9.55) | 900.88 (2)*** |
| Depression and Anxiety Symptoms | 1.91 (0.61) | 1.81 (0.58) | 1.96 (0.59) | 2.07 (0.64) | 89.32 (2)*** |
Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. Responses to survey items were not mandatory and, consequently, actual N and ns may vary due to missing data. Categorical variables are presented in n(%) and continuous variables are presented in M(SD). RTW is an acronym for return to work. ODI is the Oswestry Disability Index. NDI is the Neck Disability Index. EQ-5D-5 L is the European Quality of Life 5-Dimension 5-Level scale. WePP is the Western preference pattern of the EQ-5D-5 L