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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population (n = 8935)

From: Impact of pre-pandemic sick leave diagnoses on the length of COVID-19-related sick leave: a nationwide registry-based study

Characteristics

Total (n = 8935)

COVID-19 virus not identified (n = 3833)

COVID-19 virus identified, (n = 5102)

p-value

Sociodemographic characteristics

Sex, n (%)

   

 < 0.001

 Male

2911 (33)

1503 (39)

1408 (28)

 

 Female

6024 (67)

2330 (61)

3694 (72)

 

Age, mean (± SD)

46.7 (11.4)

46.9 (11.3)

46.5 (11.5)

0.239#

 Median (IQR)/min–max

48 (18)/18–76

48 (17)/19–76

48 (18)/18–75

 

Country of birth, n (%)

   

 < 0.001

 Sweden

5943 (67)

2664 (70)

3279 (64)

 

 Nordic countries, except for Sweden

183 (2)

70 (2)

113 (2)

 

 European countries, except Nordic countries

833 (9)

309 (8)

524 (10)

 

 Asian countries

1317 (15)

523 (14)

794 (16)

 

 Other countries

653 (7)

264 (7)

389 (8)

 

Education, n (%)

   

 < 0.001

 Primary school (≤ 9 years)

822 (9)

397 (10)

425 (8)

 

 Secondary school (10–12 years)

4456 (50)

1761 (57)

2695 (53)

 

 Short university education (13–14 years)

1269 (14)

595 (16)

674 (13)

 

 Long university education (≥ 15 years)

2324 (26)

1044 (28)

1280 (25)

 

 Income in 10,000 SEK, mean (± SD)

30.1 (24.8)

31.0 (35.0)

29.4 (12.5)

0.001#

Marital status, n (%)

   

0.004

 Married

4087 (46)

1681 (44)

2406 (47)

 

 Single

3171 (36)

1385 (36)

1786 (35)

 

 Divorced

1552 (17)

716 (19)

836 (16)

 

 Widow/Widower

118 (1)

47 (1)

71 (1)

 

 Children living at home, yes, n (%)

4932 (55)

2092 (55)

2840 (56)

0.218

 Age ≤ 18 years

3362 (38)

1436 (38)

1926 (38)

0.795

Sick leave prior to COVID-19 ≥ 28 days, yes, n (%)

1553 (17)

664 (17)

889 (17)

0.900

Diagnostic groups 1 year prior to COVID-19, n (%)

   

0.476

 No prior sick leave

6568(76)

2834(76)

3734 (75)

 

 Mental, behavioural, and neurodevelopmental disorders

502 (6)

220 (6)

282 (6)

 

 Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases

441(5)

180 (5)

261 (5)

 

 Respiratory system diseases

250 (3)

103 (3)

147 (3)

 

 All other isolated diagnoses

683 (8)

277 (7)

406 (8)

 

 Multiple diagnoses

232 (3)

109 (3)

123 (3)

 

Employment status, n (%)

   

 < 0.001

 Employed

8645 (97)

3651 (95)

4994 (98)

 

 Self-employed

182 (2)

112 (3)

70 (1)

 

 Unemployed

105 (1)

69 (2)

36 (1)

 

COVID-19-related information

 Long COVID-19, sick leave ≥ 84 days, no, n (%)

8142 (91)

3416 (89)

4726 (93)

 < 0.001

 Yes, n (%)

793 (9)

417 (11)

376 (7)

 

Length of sick leave in days during the 4 months post COVID-19

 Mean (± SD)

43.1 (25.6)

46.3 (27.4)

40.7 (24.0)

 < 0.001#

 Median (IQR)/min–max

35 (20)/1–122

36 (25)/1–122

33 (17)/2–122

 
  1. Variables with missing values n (%): country of birth, 6 (0.1%); education, 64 (0.7%); marital status, 7 (0.1%); children living at home, 7 (0.1%); ICD diagnosis codes in the year prior to COVID-19, 259 (2.9%); and employment status, 3 (0.03%)
  2. Abbreviations: COVID-19 coronavirus disease, ICD International Classification of Diseases, IQR interquartile range, SD standard deviation, SEK Swedish Krona
  3. Statistics: Chi-square test and #Mann–Whitney U test. Bold text indicates statistically significant results at an alpha of 5%
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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