Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the sample

Observed number

128,001 (all employed persons)

Mean observation period

2350 days (6.4 years)

Gender

Male

85,502

66.8%

Female

42,499

33.2%

Education

General school certificate (9 years of schooling)

40,498

31.6%

Intermediate secondary school certificate (10 yrs of schooling)

52,208

40.8%

Qualifying high school degree (13 years of schooling)

2,786

2.2%

University degree

1,090

0.9%

Not known

29,271

22.9%

Occupation

Occupations with little or no qualification

57,097

57.9%

Qualified manual occupations, skilled workers

28,778

29.1%

Qualified white-collar occupations

11,700

11.9%

Middle-management and management positions

1,155

1.2%

Not known

29,271

22.9%

Age at first work incapacity with study diagnosis

39.7 years (n = 4,611)

Age at first inpatient treatment with study diagnosis

38.3 years (n = 840)

Age at early mortality

54.8 years (n = 3,284)

Age at early retirement

49.8 years (n = 5,282)