Brief report
Does computer use pose a hazard for future long-term sickness absence?
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* Corresponding author: Johan H Andersen Johan.Hviid.Andersen@vest.rm.dk
1 Danish Ramazzini Centre, Department of Occupational Medicine, Herning Hospital, 7400 Herning, Denmark
2 Department of Occupational Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark
Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine 2010, 9:1 doi:10.1186/1477-5751-9-1
Published: 22 March 2010Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate if weekly duration of computer use predicted sickness absence for more than two weeks at a later time.
A cohort of 2146 frequent computer users filled in a questionnaire at baseline and was followed for one year with continuously recording of the duration of computer use and furthermore followed for 300 weeks in a central register of sickness absence for more than 2 weeks.
147 participants of the 2,146 (6.9%) became first time sick listed in the follow-up period. Overall, mean weekly computer use did not turn out to be a risk factor for later sickness absence. The hazard ratio for sickness absence with weekly increase of one hour in computer use was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.99 to 1.00). Low satisfaction with work place arrangements and female gender both doubled the risk of sickness absence.
We have earlier found that computer use did not predict persistent pain in the neck and upper limb, and it seems that computer use neither predicts future long-term sickness absence of all causes.