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Table 6 Sick Leave and Disability Pension

From: A systematic review of working conditions and occupational health among immigrants in Europe and Canada

Author (ref number)

Sample, method, country, study period

Observed mean differences or risk estimates, immigrants compared with natives:

Sick leave

 Bengtsson et al. [81]

General working pop., Register panel data, Sweden, 1982–91

Sick leave (25 days): RR 2 to 7 a times higher risk

 Brekke et al. [82]

General working pop., survey and register data, Norway, 2000/1

Sick leave days: mean 6.3 days more a (m), mean 8.3 days more a (w).

 Brekke et al. [22]

Cohort of pregnant women, register data 2008–10

Number of sickness absence > 2 weeks: Marginal mean 2.0, 95%CI 1.23–2.77)

 Carneiro et al. [23]

Elderly care workers, survey, Denmark, 2005

Sickness absence (≥21 days): RR 0.66 95%CI 0.43–1.01NS

 Carneiro et al. [24]

Convenience sample Cleaners, survey, Denmark, 2007/8

6-month period: mean 6.7 vs. 5.0 days sick−leave.NS

 Dahl et al. [83]

General working pop., Register data, Norway, 1992–2003

≥14 days: Asia: OR 1.5 a, Africa OR  1.7 a, North-America OR  0.6 a

 Hansen et al. [42]

General working pop., Register, data Norway, 2003–06

≥16 days: Probability 1.3 to 3.6% higher a, mean 1.4 to 3.2 days longer

 Soler-Gonzales et al. [74]

Sample of Patients treated in primary care, Spain, 2005

Any period of sick-leave: Natives vs Immigrants RR 1.7 95%CI 1.43–2.02

Disability pension

 Clausen et al. [28]

General working pop., survey and register data, Norway, 2001–2004

OR 2.27, 95%CI 1.55–3.23

 Elders et al. [37]

Dutch comparative registry study, Turkish scaffolders, 1981–2000

RR 2.48, 95%CI 1.94–3.18

 Johansson et al. [45]

General working pop, register data, Sweden, 2005

HR 1.9, 95%CI 1.9–2.0 (m), HR 1.7, 95%CI 1.7–1.7 (w)

 Solé et al. [73]

4% random sample drawn from a Spanish national register

RR 0.3 (PR 1.6% vs. 4.9%)a

  1. OR Odds ratio, HR hazard ratio, RR relative risk, PR prevalence (%), #ERR estimated relative risk based on reported prevalence numbers
  2. astatistically significant. NS not statistically significant, m men, w women, n/a not available