Development of Length of Hospital Stay and Absence From Work Among Working-Age Patients Undergoing Orthopaedic Surgery
Abstract
Background
We examined the development of length of hospital stay and of work compensation paid by the Social Insurance Institution before and after surgery from 1998 to 2013.
Methods
A sample of orthopaedic patients was selected from the national hospital discharge register for the years 1998 and 2013. For these patients, the absence from work was identified from the income subsidy register for the years 1997−1999 and 2012−2014. The sample included patients who had undergone an operation for hip or knee replacement or intervertebral disc surgery. The length of absence from work before and after surgery and the length of hospital stay were calculated. The information from the two registers on hospital care and income subsidy was linked by the patients´ social security codes.
Results
The patients who had undergone a disc operation had longer absences from work before surgery in 2013 than in 1998 in all hospitals. In 2013 the absences from work after surgery were longer than in 1998 in all hospitals except in private hospitals. The proportion of the patients undergoing surgery who had received income subsidy from the Social Insurance Institution had not changed in the 15 years of follow-up.
Conclusions
The observed development of the length of absence from work before and after surgery from 1998 to 2013 showed that the total length of sickness episodes had not shortened in 15 years – in fact the opposite was rather the case.
Authors
Ilkka Vohlonen, Arto Vehviläinen, Lauri Virta, Kaj Husman, Heikki Kröger, Veli Koistinen
Additional Information
- Peer-Reviewed: yes.
- Open Access: yes.
- Cite as: Vohlonen, I., Vehviläinen, A., Virta, L., Husman, K., Kröger, H., & Koistinen, V. (2017). Ortopedisiin leikkauksiin liittyvät sairaalahoitojaksot ja sairauspoissaolot työikäisillä vuosina 1998 ja 2013. Suomen lääkärilehti, 72(17), 1085–1090. https://www.laakarilehti.fi/tieteessa/terveydenhuoltoartikkelit/ortopedisiin-leikkauksiin-liittyvat-sairaalahoitojaksot-ja-sairauspoissaolot-tyoikaisilla-vuosina-1998-ja-2013/
