Affiliations: ArboNed Corporate Accounts, Zwolle, The
Netherlands | Department of Social Medicine, University Medical
Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands | ArboNed Groningen, The Netherlands
Note: [] Address for correspondence: C.A.M. Roelen, ArboNed Corporate
Accounts, PO Box 158, 8000 AD Zwolle, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 38 4554700;
Fax: +31 38 4537272; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective: The Dutch population is healthy in terms of living
and working conditions, but the levels of subjective health complaints (SHC)
and sickness absence are high in the Dutch workforce. Are SHC related to
sickness absence? Participants: The study population included the
personnel of four companies: a library (n= 185), an administrative office
(n=114), a cheese factory (n=201) and a company producing metal
constructions (n=65). Methods: The employees received the Basic
Occupational Health Questionnaire including 22 common SHC. For each employee,
the number and type of SHC but not their intensity was linked to the number of
sickness absence episodes between January 2003 and December 2004. Results: The questionnaires of 409 employees (72%) were suitable for
statistical analysis. The prevalence of SHC in the study population was 78%
between January and June 2003. Employees who reported ⩾ 5 SHC had higher
rates of both short (1–7 days) and medium (8–42 days) sickness absence
episodes. Long (> 42 days) episodes were strongly related to SHC amounting
to a rate ratio (RR) of 4.2 with a 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7 to 10.4
in workers reporting multiple SHC relative to those without complaints. Fatigue
was associated with medium duration sickness absence (RR=1.6; 95% CI
1.1–2.2) and musculoskeletal complaints, particularly low back pain (RR=
1.8; 95% CI 1.2–2.8), with long episodes. Conclusions: The number of
SHC was related to sickness absence. The 20% of participants reporting most
SHC were responsible for about 40% of work days lost in the two-year period of study.
Keywords: Health, subjective health complaints, illness, sickness, sickness absence
