Documents Karlsson, Berndt 3 results

"Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence of disability pensions over time among workers with physically demanding jobs. Methods The occurrence of disability pension was prospectively studied between 1980–2008 among 325 549 Swedish construction workers. The risks for disability pension and years lost of working life were compared among 22 occupational groups, adjusting for age, body mass index, height, and smoking habits. Results The risk varied considerably among blue-collar workers. For example, rock workers had double the risk of disability pension [relative risk (RR) 2.16, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.96–2.39] compared to electricians. Most working years lost due to disability pensions (about 75%) were found among men >50 years, mainly due to musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases. The years of working life lost due to disability pension varied from 0.7 (salaried employees) to 3.2 years (rock workers) among occupational groups.Conclusion Work environment is an important predictor for disability pension among construction workers with those in physically heavy jobs having the highest burden of disability. If the purpose is to increase labor force participation for workers with heavy jobs, strategies to reduce physical demands at work among elderly workers are important."

"Objective The aim of this study was to investigate whether shift work (with or without night work) is associated with increased risk of breast cancer.Methods The population consisted of 4036 women. Data were obtained from WOLF (Work, Lipids, and Fibrinogen), a longitudinal cohort study. Information about baseline characteristics was based on questionnaire responses and medical examination. Cancer incidence from baseline to follow-up was obtained from the national cancer registry. Two exposure groups were identified: shift work with and without night work. The group with day work only was used as the reference group in the analysis. Cox regression analysis was used to calculate relative risk.Results In total, 94 women developed breast cancer during follow-up. The average follow-up time was 12.4 years. The hazard ratio for breast cancer was 1.23 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.70–2.17] for shifts without night work and 2.02 (95% CI 1.03–3.95) for shifts with night work. When including only women <60 years of age, the risk estimates were 1.18 (95% CI 0.67–2.07) for shifts without night work, and 2.15 (95% CI 1.10–4.21) for shifts with night work.Conclusions Our results indicate an increased risk for breast cancer among women who work shifts that includes night work.

"Objectives This study analyzed the potential association between shift work and ischemic stroke.Methods The analysis was carried out using a nested case–control study consisting of 138 shift workers and 469 day workers from the register of the Northern Sweden Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Diseases (MONICA) study and the Västerbotten Intervention Programme. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk estimate for day workers in a comparison with shift workers and the risk of ischemic stroke.Results The crude odds ratio for shift workers' risk of experiencing an ischemic stroke was 1.0 (95% confidence interval 0.6–1.8) for both the men and the women. The risk estimates were consistent despite the introduction of several recognized risk factors for ischemic stroke in the logistic regression models.Conclusions In the present study, none of the findings indicated a higher risk of shift workers undergoing an ischemic stroke than day workers."