Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 1/2010

Open Access 01-02-2010 | Original Paper

Health and Sickness Absence in Denmark: A Study of Elderly-Care Immigrant Workers

Authors: Isabella Gomes Carneiro, Adriana Ortega, Vilhelm Borg, Annie Høgh

Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health | Issue 1/2010

Login to get access

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate patterns of sickness absence in light of health status among immigrants. Cross-sectional data from 2005 was used and the study population consisted of 3,121 healthcare assistants and healthcare helpers working in the elderly-care sector in Denmark. A multinomial logistic regression was employed to investigate the relationship between health indicator, sickness absence and being an immigrant. Our findings show that, on one hand, immigrants have worse health status, but on the other, they have significantly lower sickness absence than their Danish counterparts, even after factors such as age and gender are controlled for. The results show that the relationship between being an immigrant and sickness absence differs according to health status. Our findings are in line with Steer and Rhode’s theoretical framework, according to which attendance to work is a function of ability and motivation to be at work.
Footnotes
1
The healthcare helper education takes 1 year and 2 months. The work of HH involves personal and practical work with users in their daily activities so that they can perform their normal practices. The healthcare assistant education takes 1 year and 8 months and can only be taken after completion of healthcare helper education. The work as a HA is related to coordination and teaching activities, along with basic health and nursing activities.
 
2
This definition would correspond to 1 week of sickness absence, 2 to 3 weeks of absence and 4 or more weeks. The reason behind this subdivision is due to administration reasons. The employer has up to 4 weeks after the first day of sickness absence to report the workers that were absent for more than 15 days to the municipality, in order to receive refunds from the employees’ residence municipality for the costs related to the employee’s absence. From that point sickness absence is administered at the municipality level as long-term sickness absence.
 
Literature
1.
Borg V, Clausen T, Frandsen CL, Winsløw JH. Psykisk arbejdsmiljø i ældreplejen (Publication in Danish: Psychosocial work environment in the elderly-care sector). København: Arbejdsmiljøinstituttet; 2005. Report No.: FOR-SOSU rapport nr. 4.
2.
Michie S, Williams S. Reducing work related psychological ill health and sickness absence: a systematic literature review. Occup Environ Med. 2003;60(1):3–9.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Allebeck P, Mastekaasa A. Chapter 5 risk factors for sick leave - general studies Scandinavian. J Public Health. 2004;32(5):49–108.
4.
Rhodes SR, Steers RM. Major causes of absenteeism rhodes SR and steers RM managing employee absenteeism. Addison-Wesley; 1990. p. 33–63.
5.
Steers RM, Rhodes SR. Major influences on employee attendance - process model. J Appl Psychol. 1978;63(4):391–407.CrossRef
6.
Alexanderson K, Norlund A. Sickness absence–causes, consequences and physicians’ sickness certification practice a systematic literature review by the swedish council on technology assessment in health care scandinavian. J Public Health. 2004;63:3–236.
7.
Eden L, Ejlertsson G, Lamberger B, Leden I, Nordbeck B, Sundgren P. Immigration and socio-economy as predictors of early retirement pensions. Scand J Soc Med. 1994;22(3):187–93.PubMed
8.
Kindlung H. Indvandrares Förtidspensioner Under 1990-Talet (Publication in Swedish: Immigrants Early Pension in the 1990s). RFV-Redovisar 2001;7.
9.
Nilsson M. Differences and similarities in work absence behavior: - empirical evidence from micro data. Växjö University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Management and Economics; 2005.
10.
Gustafsson B, Österberg T. Ursprung och förtidspension (Publication in Swedish). In: Egenförsörjning eller bidragsförsörjning? Invandrarna, arbetsmarknaden och välfärdsstaten. 21st ed. SOU; 2004. p. 57–102.
11.
Miiler MM. Arbejdsmiljø og indvandrere - Erfaringer med rekruttering og fastholderlse (Publication in Danish: Work environment and immigrants). The Danish National Centre for Social Research; 2006. Report No:6, p. 13.
12.
Indvandrere skal tage presset af arbejdsmarkedet (Publication in Danish: Immigrants shall take the pressure off the labor market). 2007. 29–11–0007. Internet Communication.
13.
Indvandrere er mindre syge (Publication in Danish: Immigrants have less sickness). Politiken 15–6–2006.
14.
Indvandrer i job klarer skærene (Publication in Danish: Immigrants at work pull through). Urban 10–7–2006.
15.
Schläger DM, Rasmussen N and Kjøller M. Sundhedsforhold blandt etniske minoriteter-en litteraturgennemgang (Publication in Danish: Health among ethnic minorities - a literature review). Copenhagen: National Institute of Public Health; 2005.
16.
National Institute of Public Health (Sweden). The relevance of birth place - the health of various immigrant groups in Sweden. 2002. Report No.: Summary series: 2002:4.
17.
Deding M, Jacobsen V. Indvandreres arbejdsliv og familieliv (Publication in Danish: Immigrant’s work and family life). The Danish National Centre for Social Research; 2006. Report No: 06:31.
18.
Ala-Mursala L, Vahtera J, Kivimaki M, Kevin MC, Pentti J. Employee control over working times: associations with subjective health and sickness absences. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002;56(4):272–8.CrossRef
19.
Eshøj P, Jepsen JR, Nielsen CV. Long-term sickness absence - risk indicators among occupationally active residents of a Danish County. Occup Med-Oxford. 2001;51(5):347–53.CrossRef
20.
Frost B, Breddam E. Bendsen J, Carlsen HB, Trykker HU. Sygefravær i Relation Til Arbejdsmijø Og Familieforhold (Publication in Swedish:Sick Leave in Relation to Working Conditions and Family Structure). Ugeskr Læger 1995;157:2856–60.
21.
Fox S, Stallworth LE. Bullying, racism, and power: an investigation of racial/ethnic bullying in the US workplace. J Vocat Behav. 2005;66:438–56.CrossRef
22.
Shields MA, Price SW. Racial harassment, job satisfaction and intentions to quit: evidence from the British nursing profession. Economica. 2002;69(274):295–326.CrossRef
23.
Giver H, Carneiro IG, Høgh A, Borg V. Arbejdsmiljøforhold for SOSU-uddannede indvandrere i Danmark (Publication in Danish: Work environment conditions for SOSU-educated immigrants in Denmark). København: Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Arbejdsmiljø; 2007. Report No: 7.
24.
25.
Ortega A, Carneiro IG, Flyvholm M. Descriptive study on immigrant workers in the Danish Elderly-care sector. J Immigr Minority Health (Submitted). May 2008.
26.
Statistics Denmark. StatBank Denmark. 7–8–0008. Internet Communication.
27.
Kristensen TS, Borritz M, Villadsen E, Christensen KB. The Copenhagen burnout inventory: a new tool for the assessment of burnout. Work Stress. 2005;19(3):192–207.CrossRef
28.
Hanse Å, Hogh A, Persson R, Garde AH. Associations between bullying, witnessing bullying and sleep problems 6th. In: International Conference on Workplace Bullying Sharing our Knowledge; 2008.
29.
Nilsson PM, Roost M, Engstrom G, Hedblad B, Bergund G. Incidence of diabetes in middle-aged men is related to sleep disturbances. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:2464–9.CrossRefPubMed
30.
DeMaris A. Regression with social data: modeling continuous and limited response variables. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons; 2004.
31.
32.
Robertson E, Iglesias E, Johansson S, Sundquist J. Migration status and limiting long-standing illness. Eur J Pub Health. 2003;13:99–104.CrossRef
33.
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). 2007. Internet Communication.
34.
Tajfel H, Turner JC. An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In: Hatch MJ, Schultz M, editors. Organizational indentity: a reader. Massachussets: Oxford University Press; 2004. p. 56–65.
35.
36.
Aronsson G, Svensson L, Gustafsson K. Unwinding, recuperation and health among compulsory school and high school teachers in Sweden. Int J Stress Manage. 2003;10(3):217–34.CrossRef
37.
Chatterji M, V CJ. Sickness, absenteeism, presenteeism and sick pay. Oxford Econ Pap. 2002;54:669–87.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Health and Sickness Absence in Denmark: A Study of Elderly-Care Immigrant Workers
Authors
Isabella Gomes Carneiro
Adriana Ortega
Vilhelm Borg
Annie Høgh
Publication date
01-02-2010
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health / Issue 1/2010
Print ISSN: 1557-1912
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1920
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-008-9206-7

Other articles of this Issue 1/2010

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 1/2010 Go to the issue

Original Paper

Experiential Health from an Ageing and Migration Perspective: The Case of Older Finland-Swedes

ORIGINAL PAPER

Comparing Two Approaches to Acquiring HIV-Risk Data from Puerto Rican Women with Severe Mental Illness

Original Paper

Racial Sexual Mixing and Factors Associated with Condom Use Among Middle Eastern-Canadians

Original Paper

Understanding the Barriers that Reduce the Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategies for Puerto Rican Women Living in Low-income Households in Ponce, PR: A Qualitative Study

Original Paper

United States–Mexico Border Crossing: Experiences and Risk Perceptions of Undocumented Male Immigrants

Review Paper

Undocumented Migrants in Canada: A Scope Literature Review on Health, Access to Services, and Working Conditions