Researchers collected dates and diagnostic code information from electronic medical records for all available sick leave certifications in the North Western part of the Skåne region in Sweden during 2009 and 2010. Duration, age and sex distribution were studied using the International Classification of Diseases 10 codes, as well as recurrent periods of sick leave for low back pain, disc disorders, knee osteoarthritis, hip osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and myalgia.

Study results showed 20,251 sick leave periods were issued for 16,673 individuals between the ages of 16 and 64 years. Shorter sick leave periods of 26 days and 27 days were recorded for low back pain and myalgia, respectively, whereas disc disorders had a period of 150 days and rheumatoid arthritis had a period of 147 days.

For patients with low back pain, 27% of sick leave was short (8 to 14 days), and 11% was long (90 days or more). In patients with myalgia, 26% of sick leave was short, and 13% was long.

Less than 5% of sick leave periods for other selected musculoskeletal disorders were short, and more than 60% of sick leave periods for disc disorders, hip osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis were long, according to the researchers.

More periods of back disorders and myalgia were seen in patients between 40 and 49 years old, with similar patterns for women and men. Patients 50 to 64 years old experienced more OA and rheumatoid arthritis with differed patterns between men and women. Among all musculoskeletal disorders, the researchers found low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis and myalgia had the greatest share of recurrent sick leave.