Incidence of long-term sick-listing in an urban area of Sweden and its relationship with demographic data of the population

By checking the card indexes of seven out of twelve Social Insurance Offices covering 66% of the total wage-earning population in the city of Goteborg the patients recorded for 90 days of continuous sick-listing were classified into four diagnostic categories according to the doctor's certificate: ''non-specific pain'' and ''specific pain'' of the musculoskeletal system, ''other pain'' and ''non-pain'' diagnoses. The overall yearly incidence of 90 days' sick-listing averaged 5.4%. A significant correlation was found between the incidence of 90 days' sick-listing due to ''non-pain'' and musculoskeletal pain diagnoses and the proportion of demographic characteristics of the areas. The hypothesis of presuming the highest association between non-specific pain diagnoses and demographic factors was rejected.