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Multimorbidity and fit note receipt in working-age adults with long-term health conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2020

Sarah Dorrington Open the ORCID record for Sarah Dorrington [Opens in a new window] ,
Ewan Carr Open the ORCID record for Ewan Carr [Opens in a new window] ,
Sharon A.M. Stevelink Open the ORCID record for Sharon A.M. Stevelink [Opens in a new window] ,
Alex Dregan Open the ORCID record for Alex Dregan [Opens in a new window] ,
Charlotte Woodhead ,
Jayati Das-Munshi Open the ORCID record for Jayati Das-Munshi [Opens in a new window] ,
Mark Ashworth ,
Matthew Broadbent ,
Ira Madan Open the ORCID record for Ira Madan [Opens in a new window]  and
Stephani L Hatch Open the ORCID record for Stephani L Hatch [Opens in a new window]
...Show all authors
Sarah Dorrington*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Ewan Carr
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Sharon A.M. Stevelink
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK King's Centre for Military Health Research, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Alex Dregan
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Charlotte Woodhead
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Jayati Das-Munshi
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Mark Ashworth
Affiliation:
School of Population Health and Environmental Sciences, King's College London, Guy's Campus, Addison House, London SE1 1UL, UK
Matthew Broadbent
Affiliation:
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Ira Madan
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Health, Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Stephani L Hatch
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Matthew Hotopf
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Sarah Dorrington, E-mail: Sarah.dorrington@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

Research on sickness absence has typically focussed on single diagnoses, despite increasing recognition that long-term health conditions are highly multimorbid and clusters comprising coexisting mental and physical conditions are associated with poorer clinical and functional outcomes. The digitisation of sickness certification in the UK offers an opportunity to address sickness absence in a large primary care population.

Methods

Lambeth Datanet is a primary care database which collects individual-level data on general practitioner consultations, prescriptions, Quality and Outcomes Framework diagnostic data, sickness certification (fit note receipt) and demographic information (including age, gender, self-identified ethnicity, and truncated postcode). We analysed 326 415 people's records covering a 40-month period from January 2014 to April 2017.

Results

We found significant variation in multimorbidity by demographic variables, most notably by self-defined ethnicity. Multimorbid health conditions were associated with increased fit note receipt. Comorbid depression had the largest impact on first fit note receipt, more than any other comorbid diagnoses. Highest rates of first fit note receipt after adjustment for demographics were for comorbid epilepsy and rheumatoid arthritis (HR 4.69; 95% CI 1.73–12.68), followed by epilepsy and depression (HR 4.19; 95% CI 3.60–4.87), chronic pain and depression (HR 4.14; 95% CI 3.69–4.65), cardiac condition and depression (HR 4.08; 95% CI 3.36–4.95).

Conclusions

Our results show striking variation in multimorbid conditions by gender, deprivation and ethnicity, and highlight the importance of multimorbidity, in particular comorbid depression, as a leading cause of disability among working-age adults.

Keywords

comorbiditydepressiondisabilityfit notehealth inequalitiesmultimorbiditysickness absenceprimary carepublic health
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 6 , April 2022 , pp. 1156 - 1165
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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