Using Longitudinal Survey Data to Estimate Mental Health Related Transitions to a Disability Pension: Analysis of an Australian Household Panel Study

J Occup Environ Med. 2018 Apr;60(4):e166-e172. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001269.

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the association between mental ill-health and subsequent receipt of a disability pension in Australia, and assessed how the strength of the association varied in relation to the duration between mental health measurement and reported disability pension receipt.

Methods: Eight thousand four hundred seventy-four working-age adults not receiving a disability pension at baseline were followed for up to 11 years; 349 transitioned onto a disability pension. Discrete-time survival analysis considered baseline and time-varying (12-month lagged) measures of mental ill-health.

Results: Proximal measures of mental ill-health were more strongly associated with subsequent pension receipt than baseline measures (odds ratio: 6.6 vs 3.9) and accounted for a significantly greater proportion of pension transitions (35% vs 21%).

Conclusion: Mental ill-health is an independent risk factor for disability pension receipt, and proximal circumstances better capture this association than mental health measured earlier.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Australia
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Employment / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / psychology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Pensions / statistics & numerical data*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Self Report
  • Young Adult