title: Doctor-certified sickness absence in first and second trimesters of pregnancy among native and immigrant women in Norway.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors sought to estimate differences in doctor-certified sickness absence during pregnancy among immigrant and native women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based cohort study of pregnant women attending three Child Health Clinics in Groruddalen, Oslo, and their offspring. Questionnaire data were collected at gestational weeks 10-20 and 28. The participation rate was 74%. A multivariate Poisson regression was used to analyse differences in sickness absence in pregnancy between immigrant and native women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 573 women who were employed prior to their pregnancies were included, 51% were immigrants. After adjusting for age, years of education, marital status, number of children, occupation, part-time/full-time work, health status, severe pregnancy-induced emesis and language proficiency, the immigrant/native differences in number of weeks with sickness absence decreased from 2.0 to 1.2 weeks. Part-time/full-time work, health status, severe pregnancy-induced emesis and language proficiency were significant predictors of sickness absence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immigrant women had higher sickness absence than native women during pregnancy. The difference in average number of weeks between native and immigrant women was partly explained by poorer health status prior to pregnancy, severe pregnancy-induced emesis and poorer proficiency in the Norwegian language among the immigrant women.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway. Idunn.brekke@ samfunnsforskning.no
authors.forename: Idunn
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brekke
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Line
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sletner
authors.forename: Anne Karen
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jenum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D009664:Norway; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires