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The association between childhood cognitive ability and adult long-term sickness absence in three British birth cohorts: a cohort study.

ABSTRACT: The authors aimed to test the relationship between childhood cognitive function and long-term sick leave in adult life and whether any relationship was mediated by educational attainment, adult social class or adult mental ill-health.Cohort study.The authors used data from the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Initial study populations included all live births in 1 week in that year. Follow-up arrangements have differed between the cohorts.The authors included only those alive, living in the UK and not permanent refusals at the time of the outcome. The authors further restricted analyses to those in employment, full-time education or caring for a family in the sweep immediately prior to the outcome. 2894 (1946), 15?053 (1958) and 14?713 (1970) cohort members were included.receipt of health-related benefits (eg, incapacity benefit) in 2000 and 2004 for the 1958 and 1970 cohorts, respectively, and individuals identified as 'permanently sick or disabled' in 1999 for 1946 cohort.After adjusting for sex and parental social class, better cognitive function at age 10/11 was associated with reduced odds of being long-term sick (1946: 0.70 (0.56 to 0.86), p=0.001; 1958: 0.69 (0.61 to 0.77), p<0.001; 1970: 0.80 (0.66 to 0.97), p=0.003). Educational attainment appeared to partly mediate the associations in all cohorts; adult social class appeared to have a mediating role in the 1946 cohort.Long-term sick leave is a complex outcome with many risk factors beyond health. Cognitive abilities might impact on the way individuals are able to develop strategies to maintain their employment or rapidly find new employment when faced with a range of difficulties. Education should form part of the policy response to long-term sick leave such that young people are better equipped with skills needed in a flexible labour market.

SUBMITTER: Henderson M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3323804 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The association between childhood cognitive ability and adult long-term sickness absence in three British birth cohorts: a cohort study.

Henderson Max M Richards Marcus M Stansfeld Stephen S Hotopf Matthew M

BMJ open 20120401 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>The authors aimed to test the relationship between childhood cognitive function and long-term sick leave in adult life and whether any relationship was mediated by educational attainment, adult social class or adult mental ill-health.<h4>Design</h4>Cohort study.<h4>Setting</h4>The authors used data from the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Initial study populations included all live births in 1 week in that year. Follow-up arrangements have differed between the cohor ...[more]

PMID: 22466159

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Project description:Background/objectivesCombining work and family responsibilities has previously been associated with improved health in mid-life, yet little is known about how these associations change over time (both biographical and historical) and whether this extends to body mass index (BMI) trajectories for British men and women. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between work-family life courses and BMI trajectories across adulthood (16-42 years) for men and women in three British birth cohorts.Subjects/methodsMultiply imputed data from three nationally representative British birth cohorts were used-the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD; 1946 birth cohort, n=3012), the National Child Development Study (NCDS; 1958 birth cohort, n=9614) and the British Cohort Study (BCS; 1970 birth cohort, n=8140). A typology of work-family life course types was developed using multi-channel sequence analysis, linking annual information on work, partnerships and parenthood from 16 to 42 years. Work-family life courses were related to BMI trajectories using multi-level growth models. Analyses adjusted for indicators of prior health, birthweight, child BMI, educational attainment and socioeconomic position across the life course, and were stratified by gender and cohort.ResultsWork-family life courses characterised by earlier transitions to parenthood and weaker long-term links to employment were associated with greater increases in BMI across adulthood. Some of these differences, particularly for work-family groups, which are becoming increasingly non-normative, became more pronounced across cohorts (for example, increases in BMI between 16 and 42 years in long-term homemaking women: NSHD: 4.35 kg m-2, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.44, 5.26; NCDS: 5.53 kg m-2, 95% CI: 5.18, 5.88; BCS: 6.69 kg m-2, 95% CI: 6.36, 7.02).ConclusionsBecoming a parent earlier and weaker long-term ties to employment are associated with greater increases in BMI across adulthood in British men and women.

Dataset Information

The association between childhood cognitive ability and adult long-term sickness absence in three British birth cohorts: a cohort study.

Publications

The association between childhood cognitive ability and adult long-term sickness absence in three British birth cohorts: a cohort study.

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