Perceived and content-related emotional demands at work and risk of long-term sickness absence in the Danish workforce: a cohort study of 26 410 Danish employees

Objectives: This study aimed to examine whether high emotional demands at work predict long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in the Danish workforce and whether associations differ by perceived and content-related emotional demands.

Methods: We included 26 410 individuals from the Work Environment and Health in Denmark Study, a nationwide sample of the Danish workforce. Emotional demands at work were measured with two items: one assessing perceived emotional demands (asking how often respondents were emotionally affected by work) and one assessing content-related emotional demands (frequency of contact with individuals in difficult situations). LTSA was register based and defined as spells of ≥6 weeks. Respondents with LTSA during 2 years before baseline were excluded. Follow-up was 52 weeks. Using Cox regression, we estimated risk of LTSA per one-unit increase in emotional demands rated on a five-point scale.

Results: During 22 466 person-years, we identified 1002 LTSA cases. Both perceived (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.28) and content-related emotional demands (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.13) predicted risk of LTSA after adjustment for confounders. Further adjustment for baseline depressive symptoms substantially attenuated associations for perceived (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.16) but not content-related emotional demands (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.11). Individuals working in occupations with above-average values of both exposures had an increased risk of LTSA (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.52) compared with individuals in all other job groups.

Conclusions: Perceived and content-related emotional demands at work predicted LTSA, also after adjustment for baseline depressive symptoms, supporting the interpretation that high emotional demands may be hazardous to employee's health.