Work incapacity is a major public health challenge and an economic burden to both society and individuals. Understanding the underlying causes is becoming ever more relevant as many countries face an aging workforce. We examined stability and change in genetic and environmental factors influencing work incapacity from age 18 until retirement, and sex differences in these effects. The large population-based sample comprised information from 28,759 twins followed for up to 23 years combined with high-quality national registry data. We measured work incapacity as the total proportion of potential workdays lost due to sickness absence, rehabilitation and disability benefits. Structural equation modeling with twin data indicated moderate genetic influences on work incapacity throughout life in both men and women, with a high degree of genetic stability from young to old adulthood. Environmental influences were mainly age-specific. Our results indicate that largely the same genetic factors influence individual differences in work incapacity throughout young, middle and older adulthood, despite major differences in degree of work incapacity and probable underlying medical causes.

中文翻译：

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遗传和环境对工作能力丧失影响的生命历程研究

丧失工作能力是一项重大的公共卫生挑战，也是社会和个人的经济负担。随着许多国家面临劳动力老龄化，了解根本原因变得越来越重要。我们研究了影响从 18 岁到退休的工作能力丧失的遗传和环境因素的稳定性和变化，以及这些影响的性别差异。基于人群的大型样本包括来自 28,759 名双胞胎的信息，随访时间长达 23 年，并结合高质量的国家登记数据。我们将工作能力丧失衡量为因病假、康复和残疾福利而损失的潜在工作日的总比例。使用双胞胎数据进行的结构方程模型表明，遗传对男性和女性终生工作能力的影响是中等的，从年轻到成年，具有高度的遗传稳定性。环境影响主要是特定年龄的。我们的研究结果表明，尽管在工作能力丧失程度和可能的潜在医疗原因方面存在重大差异，但在整个青年、中年和老年成年期，基本相同的遗传因素影响工作能力丧失的个体差异。