title: Sick Leave and Disability Across Three Decades After a Major Disaster.
abstract: Extended functional impairment characterized by sick leave and disability after a single disaster has not been documented before. This prospective, longitudinal, case-control study applied growth mixture modeling to predict trajectories of functional impairment in oil rig workers, survivors (n = 68) and a matched comparison group (n = 84), over 27 years after the 1980 North Sea oil rig disaster. In the initial 12 years post-disaster, survivors displayed higher rates of functional impairment than the comparison group. A minor group of survivors (n = 8, 11.8%) demonstrated persistent functional impairment from the start and remained unable to work during the subsequent three decades. Long-term sick leave and disability were related to perceived peritraumatic death threat and a propensity towards social withdrawal. Most survivors (n = 60) revealed no major functional impairment. The study indicates that functional impairment should be counteracted in the early support after a single disaster.
authors.affiliation: *Division of Psychiatry, Tiller Department, St. Olavs University Hospital; †Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim; ‡Institute of Military Psychiatry, Norwegian Armed Forces Medical Services, Oslo; §Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Kongsberg; ∥Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; and ¶Pain Unit, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Katrine Høyer
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Holgersen
authors.forename: Christian A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Klöckner
authors.forename: Hans Jakob
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bøe
authors.forename: Are
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holen
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D000066388:Oil and Gas Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*