Work–life interference and physician-certified sick leave: a prospective study of a general working population

BACKGROUND: Work–life interference has been associated with adverse health outcomes. Here, we quantify the association between work–life interference and subsequent sick leave. METHODS: Respondents from a randomly drawn cohort of the general working Norwegian population were interviewed in 2009, 2013 and/or 2016. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to assess prospective associations of self-reported work–life interference and risk of subsequent physician-certified sick leave of 1–16 days (low-level) and >16 days (high-level) in strata of men and women. To quantify the importance of work–life interference as risk factors for sick leave, we estimated the population attributable risk (PAR). RESULTS: Both low- and high-level sick leave were most prevalent among women while the prevalence of work–life interference was similar between sexes. Risk of sick leave was higher among women reporting work–life interference sometimes or often in comparison with seldom or never {low- and high-level sick leave odds ratio (OR) = 1.21 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07–1.37] and 1.30 (95% CI = 1.14–1.49), respectively}. The associations for high-level sick leave progressively increased with the level of work–life interference [highest OR = 1.44 (95% CI = 1.19–1.75)]. In men, there was no consistent higher risk of sick leave according to more frequent work–life interference [low- and high-level sick leave OR = 1.00 (95% CI = 0.87–1.14) and 0.98 (95% CI = 0.84–1.16), respectively], but the risk of high-level sick leave tended to be higher among men reporting work–life interference often (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 0.98–1.50). Estimating PAR, 6.69% (95% CI = 1.52–11.74) of low-level and 9.94% (95% CI = 4.22–15.45) of high-level sick leave could be attributed to work–life interference among women. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported work–life interference was associated with a higher risk of sick leave, with the most consistent results among women.