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Abstract Background There are many immigrants in the Swedish workforce, but knowledge of their general and work-related health is limited. The aim of this register-based study was to explore whether documented migrant residents in Sweden have a different health status regarding receipt of a disability pension, mortality and hospitalization for lung, heart, psychiatric, and musculoskeletal disorders compared with the native population, and if there were variations in relation to sex, geographical origin, position on the labor market, and time since first immigration. Methods This study included migrants to Sweden since 1960 who were 28–47 years old in 1990, and included 243 860 individuals. The comparison group comprised a random sample of 859 653 native Swedes. These cohorts were followed from 1991 to 2008 in national registers. The immigrants were divided into four groups based on geographic origin. Hazard ratios for men and women from different geographic origins and with different employment status were analyzed separately for the six outcomes, with adjustment for age, education level, and income. The influence of length of residence in Sweden was analyzed separately. Results Nordic immigrants had increased risks for all investigated outcomes while most other groups had equal or lower risks for those outcomes than the Swedes. The lowest HRs were found in the EU 15+ group (from western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand). All groups, except Nordic immigrants, had lower risk of mortality, but all had higher risk of disability pension receipt compared with native Swedes. Unemployed non-Nordic men displayed equal or lower HRs for most outcomes, except disability pension receipt, compared with unemployed Swedish men. A longer time since first immigration improved the health status of men, while women showed opposite results. Conclusions Employment status and length of residence are important factors for health. The contradictory results of low mortality and high disability pension risks need more attention. There is great potential to increase the knowledge in this field in Sweden, because of the high quality registers.

Background: Sweden has a public and easily accessible sickness insurance. Research shows, however, downsides to taking sick leave. Both short and longer periods of sick leave have been seen to increase the risk for subsequent work absence. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there was an association between sick leave claimed in 1993 and work absence in the subsequent 15 years, i.e. up to 2008. A further aim was to explore differences in this relation with regard to gender, origin and educational level at baseline.Methods: Our cohort consisted of all immigrants aged 21-25 years in Sweden in 1993 and a control group of native Swedes in the same age group.Results: Subsequent work absence increased from 313 days among persons with no days of claimed sick leave in 1993 to 567 days among persons with 1-7 days of claimed sick leave in 1993. Thereafter there was a lower, but steady increase in days of future work absence, to 611 days among persons with 8-14 days of sick leave claimed in 1993. There was an interaction between sick leave and gender, education and origin respectively regarding later work absence.Conclusion: Periods of sick leave claimed were associated with subsequent work absence. Immigrants, women and persons with low education had the most risk of future work absence after a period of sick leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]