Musculoskeletal disorders shortening healthy working lives across Europe, researchers say
Rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMDs) like arthritis are having a significant impact on how long people across Europe can remain healthy while working, according to a new study.
The research team from Keele University have found that workers in European countries who have an RMD can expect to be healthy and in work for significantly less time than their counterparts who do not have one of these conditions, with the difference being as much as 50% in six of the countries studied.
The findings are important as countries across the world try to tackle the challenge of ageing populations where more people are having to work for longer before retiring, and mirror similar findings by the research team looking at the UK and USA.
The issue being examined in these studies is the concept of Healthy Working Life Expectancy (HWLE), meaning the amount of time someone can keep working past the age of 50, without any health impact. To date, the Keele research team has investigated this issue with workers in the UK and USA, particularly looking at differences between those with or without conditions like arthritis.
Their previous findings have indicated that there is a significant difference between how long those with or without RMDs can remain healthy while still working, and these new findings suggest that this is mirrored in many European countries.
This new study, published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, showed that 18 out of 19 countries surveyed had a lower HWLE for patients with RMDs than those without. Switzerland had the highest HWLE, while Romania had the lowest.
In each country there were also different population factors that affected this HWLE, such as education levels, activity levels, and differences between male and female patients.
The researchers say this, coupled with the variation seen across countries more broadly, indicates that there are likely to be different measures adopted in each country which could provide benefits in others, and that countries across Europe should look at each other's policies to improve equity for people with and without RMDs.
Professor Ross Wilkie from Keele University, who led the research, said: “This was a big analysis undertaken by the team at Keele, which outlines the impact of RMDs on population working life. The differences by country suggest that there are reasons for higher and lower healthy working life expectancy for others. This work was requested by the European commission, and we hope it provides the basis for policy change to support people who want to work until they are older.”
