Table 1.
Demographic, occupational and general health characteristics of Australian and New Zealand nurses and midwives with neck pain in the preceding 12-months by whether they took no sick leave (n = 1511) or sick leave (n = 343), together with the bivariable associations between these factors and neck pain related sick leave (NP-SL)
| No sick leave taken | Sick leave taken | OR | (95% CI) | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Demographic factors |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Age in years, mean (SD) |
44.3 |
(9.3) |
42.1 |
(9.8) |
0.98 |
(0.96, 0.99) |
<0.001 |
|
Gender, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.52 |
| Female |
1407 |
(93.1) |
316 |
(92.1) |
1.00 |
(reference) |
|
| Male |
104 |
(6.9) |
27 |
(7.9) |
1.16 |
(0.74, 1.80) |
|
|
Marital status, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.37 |
| Never married |
239 |
(16.1) |
64 |
(18.9) |
1.00 |
(reference) |
|
| Married/de facto |
1049 |
(70.4) |
235 |
(69.3) |
0.84 |
(0.61, 1.14) |
|
| Divorced/separated/widowed |
201 |
(13.5) |
40 |
(11.8) |
0.74 |
(0.48, 1.15) |
|
|
Country, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.01 |
| New Zealand |
283 |
(18.7) |
44 |
(12.8) |
1.00 |
(reference) |
|
| Australia |
1228 |
(81.3) |
299 |
(87.2) |
1.57 |
(1.11, 2.20) |
|
|
Occupational factors |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Job classification, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.36 |
| Registered nurse/midwife |
700 |
(67.0) |
143 |
(60.6) |
1.00 |
(reference) |
|
| Enrolled nurse/nurse assistant |
85 |
(8.1) |
27 |
(11.4) |
1.56 |
(0.97, 2.49) |
|
| Specialist registered nurse/midwife |
125 |
(12.0) |
32 |
(13.6) |
1.25 |
(0.82, 1.92) |
|
| Administrator/manager |
98 |
(9.4) |
25 |
(10.6) |
1.25 |
(0.78, 2.01) |
|
| Academic/university lecturer |
36 |
(3.4) |
9 |
(3.8) |
1.22 |
(0.58, 2.60) |
|
|
Current shift work, n (%)* |
825 |
(54.8) |
214 |
(62.8) |
1.39 |
(1.09, 1.77) |
0.01 |
|
Manual handling frequency, mean (SD) |
5.7 |
(6.0) |
6.9 |
(7.0) |
1.03 |
(1.01, 1.05) |
0.002 |
|
Physical demands, mean (SD) |
4.9 |
(1.6) |
5.1 |
(1.6) |
1.08 |
(1.00, 1.16) |
0.04 |
|
General health factors |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
General physical health, mean (SD) |
50.9 |
(7.2) |
47.5 |
(8.3) |
0.95 |
(0.93, 0.96) |
<0.001 |
|
Co-morbid low back pain, n (%)* |
1061 |
(71.5) |
237 |
(70.4) |
1.06 |
(0.82, 1.37) |
0.68 |
|
Pregnant, n (%)* |
35 |
(2.4) |
6 |
(1.8) |
0.76 |
(0.32, 1.83) |
0.54 |
|
Asthma, n (%)* |
327 |
(22.9) |
95 |
(29.5) |
1.41 |
(1.08, 1.85) |
0.01 |
|
Emphysema/chronic bronchitis, n (%)* |
30 |
(2.1) |
3 |
(0.9) |
0.44 |
(0.13, 1.50) |
0.18 |
|
Pneumonia, n (%)* |
141 |
(9.8) |
25 |
(7.8) |
0.77 |
(0.50, 1.20) |
0.25 |
|
High blood pressure, n (%)* |
221 |
(15.4) |
62 |
(19.3) |
1.31 |
(0.96, 1.79) |
0.09 |
|
Hours of sleep, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.06 |
| ≥ 8 |
270 |
(26.1) |
52 |
(22.3) |
1.00 |
(reference) |
|
| 6-7 |
675 |
(65.3) |
150 |
(64.4) |
1.15 |
(0.82, 1.63) |
|
| ≤ 5 |
88 |
(8.5) |
31 |
(13.3) |
1.83 |
(1.10, 3.03) |
|
|
Smoking status, n (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.93 |
| Never smoked |
749 |
(51.9) |
120 |
(51.8) |
1.00 |
(reference) |
|
| Ex-smoker |
489 |
(33.9) |
108 |
(33.1) |
0.98 |
(0.75, 1.28) |
|
| Current smoker | 206 | (14.3) | 49 | (15.0) | 1.05 | (0.74, 1.50) | |
Note: *denotes categorical variables which have an omitted reference group of ‘no’.