Comparing the relationship between age and length of disability across common chronic conditions

Publication type
Journal article
Authors
Jetha A, Besen E, Smith PM
Date published
2016 Jan 25
Journal
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume
58
Issue
5
Pages
485-491
ISSN/ISBN Number
1076-2752
Open Access?
Yes
Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the association between age and disability length across common chronic conditions. Methods: Analysis of 39,915 nonwork-related disability claims with a diagnosis of arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, depression, low back pain, chronic pulmonary disease, or cancer. Ordinary least squares regression models examined age-length of disability association across chronic conditions. Results: Arthritis (76.6 days), depression (63.2 days), and cancer (64.9 days) were associated with longest mean disability lengths; hypertension was related to shortest disability lengths (41.5 days). Across chronic conditions, older age was significantly associated with longer work disability. The age-length of disability association was most significant for chronic pulmonary disease and cancer. The relationship between age and length of work disability was linear among most chronic conditions. Conclusions: Work disability prevention strategies should consider both employee age and chronic condition diagnosis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0, where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 Copyright (C) 2016 by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine