%0 Journal Article %T Does increasing physical activity reduce the excess risk of work disability among overweight individuals? %A Ervasti, Jenni %A Airaksinen, Jaakko %A Pentti, Jaana %A Vahtera, Jussi %A Suominen, Sakari %A Virtanen­, Marianna %A Kivimäki, Mika %J Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health %D 2019 %8 July 45 %N 4 %@ 0355-3140 %F Ervasti2019 %X '

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OBJECTIVES ': 'We examined the extent to which an increase in physical activity would reduce the excess risk of work disability among overweight and obese people (body mass index ≥ 25kg/m2).

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METHODS ': 'We used counterfactual modelling approaches to analyze longitudinal data from two Finnish prospective cohort studies (total N=38 744). Weight, height and physical activity were obtained from surveys and assessed twice and linked to electronic records of two indicators of long-term work disability (≥90-day sickness absence and disability pension) for a 7-year follow-up after the latter survey. The models were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

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RESULTS ': 'The confounder-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of long-term sickness absence for overweight compared to normal-weight participants was 1.43 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35–1.53]. An increase in physical activity among overweight compared to normal-weight individuals was estimated to reduce this HR to 1.40 (95% CI 1.31–1.48). In pseudo-trial analysis including only the persistently overweight, initially physically inactive participants, the HR for long-term sickness absence was 0.82 (95% CI 0.70–0.94) for individuals with increased physical activity compared to those who remained physically inactive. The results for disability pension as an outcome were similar.

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CONCLUSIONS ': 'These findings suggest that the excess risk of work disability among overweight individuals would drop by 3–4% if they increased their average physical activity to the average level of normal-weight people. However, overweight individuals who are physically inactive would reduce their risk of work disability by about 20% by becoming physically active.

%K counterfactual analysis %K excess risk %K mediation %K normal weight %K obesity %K overweight %K physical activity %K sickness absence %K weight %K work disability %R 10.5271/sjweh.3799 %U https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3799 %U https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3799 %P 376-385