A.Stagg¹, S. Stevelink¹, N. Fear¹, S. Hatch¹, I. Madan²

¹Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK

²Occupational Health Service, St Thomas’ Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Background

The proportion of working-age people with one or more long-term conditions (LTCs) is rising1. It is important to understand the risk factors underlying the progression of LTCs and how LTCs impact on employment.

Aims

To determine risk factors which predict the development and progression of LTCs in working-age people living in Lambeth and Southwark, and the associations between LTCs and employment.

Methods

South East London Community Health (SELCoH) data from two timepoints 3 years apart in participants aged 16 to 64, were analysed.  Differences in the prevalence of LTCs are compared between these 2 timepoints, and how LTCs are distributed across all employment categories.  Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify significant associations between socio-demographic, socioeconomic (including employment status), psychosocial and health-related risk factors, and the initial progression from 0 to 1-or-more LTCs, and progression from 1-to-many LTCs. Multinomial logistic regression was also used to investigate the impact of the development and progression of LTCs on employment.

Results

Stressful life events and social isolation are risk factors associated with the progression of LTCs. Part-time employment, unemployment and not working due to disability or early retirement were associated with increased risk of progressing from one-to-many LTCs compared with full-time employment.

Conclusions

Interventions to prevent progression of LTCs should include reduction of social isolation and consider the impact of stressful life events. An important finding was that full-time employment is associated with reduced progression from one-to-many LTCs.  Future research should establish what aspects of employment protect against the progression of LTCs.

Reference:

1. Department of Health (2012). Report. Long-term conditions compendium of Information: 3rd edition