title: The role of lifestyle, health, and work in educational inequalities in sick leave and productivity loss at work.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the influence of lifestyle, health, and work conditions in the association between education and productivity loss at work and sick leave.
  
  
  METHODS
  Employees of six companies filled out a questionnaire on demographics, lifestyle-related, health, and work-related factors, and productivity loss at work and sick leave at baseline (n = 915) and after 1-year (n = 647).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Employees with a low education were more likely to report productivity loss at work (OR = 1.49, 95 % CI 0.98-2.26) and sick leave (OR = 1.81, 95 % CI 1.15-2.85). After adjustment for lifestyle, health, and work conditions, the association between education and productivity loss at work did not attenuate. Work conditions attenuated the association between low education and sick leave (OR = 1.62, 95 % CI 1.01-2.61), and additional adjustment for health and lifestyle-related factors further reduced the strength of the association (OR = 1.42, 95 % CI 0.86-2.34).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Work conditions and lifestyle-related factors partly explained the association between education and sick leave, but did not influence the association between education and productivity loss at work. The educational differences in sick leave prompt for interventions that address behavioral aspects as well as work-related and lifestyle-related factors.
authors: Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Suzan J W
authors: SJ
authors: Robroek
authors: Frank J
authors: FJ
authors: van Lenthe
authors: Alex
authors: A
authors: Burdorf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014937:Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*