Hearing difficulties is a growing public health problem and more knowledge of consequences of those difficulties in working life is warranted.
Aims: To study the future risk of being granted a disability pension (DP) among people with sickness absence with an otoaudiological diagnoses (OAD) compared to other sickness absentees.
Methods: A population-based prospective cohort study of all 40,786 people in a Swedish county who in 1985 were aged 16-64 and had a new sick-leave spell >7 days. Those were followed for 12 years with regard to DP. Hazard ratios (HR) + 95% confidence intervals (CI) of being granted DP was calculated among those with sick leave due to OAD compared to people with sickness absence with other diagnoses.
Results: In 1985, 515 people had a new sick-leave spell with an OAD. Twelve years later, 36% of those had been granted DP, compared to 24% of all other sickness absentees. Their HR for DP was 1.42 (95% CI 1.23-1.64) adjusting for gender and age. Compared to men, women with an OAD had a HR of DP of 1.24 (95% CI 0.90-1.71), when adjusted for age. The HR for DP regarding those aged>45 years and sickness absent with OAD was 2.63 (95% CI 1.95-3.55) compared to the sickness absentees with OAD below 45 years of age, adjusted for gender.
Conclusions: The risk for future DP was more than 40% higher among those initially on sickness absence due to OAD than among other sickness absentees.