PhD defence: Marit Müller De Bortoli

Bilde av Marit Müller De Bortoli

Marit Müller De Bortoli holds a trial lecture and disputation on November 23.

23 Nov

Practical information

  • Date: 23 November 2021
  • Time: 10.00 - 15.30
  • Location: Porsgrunn, Room A-271 and Zoom
  • Download calendar file

    • Watch the defence in Zoom.

    Meeting ID: 610 8583 4377
    Password: 979512

    Read the thesis "Lifestyle, work ability and sick leave in a general Norwegian working population – a cohort study from Telemark" here.

    Program

    10.00-11.00: Trial lecture, room A-271

    12.00-15.30: Marit Müller De Bortoli is defending her thesis, room A-271

    The assessment committee:

    • First opponent: Professor Cécile Boot, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, VU University

    • Second opponent: Associate Professor Inger Haukenes, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen

    • Administrator of the committee: Professor Steffen Torp, Department of Health, Social and Welfare Studies, University of South-Eastern Norway

    Supervisors

    • Professor Inger Margaret Oellingrath, Department of Nursing and Health Sciences (fall 2017-spring 2020) 
    • Senior physician, Associate Professor Anne Kristin Møller Fell, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Telemark Hospital, Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo (fall 2020 – now)
    • Senior physician, Ph.D. Regine Abrahamsen, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Telemark Hospital (spring 2019 – now)

Marit Müller De Bortoli from USN’s PhD program in person-centred health care will defend her thesis for the degree of PhD "Lifestyle, work ability and sick leave in a general Norwegian working population – a cohort study from Telemark".

The trial lecture and the defence will be held on November 23 at campus Porsgrunn and on Zoom.

Summary

High rates of sick leave and reduced work ability challenge the sustainability of the welfare state. The causes of these phenomena are multi-faceted and numerous. Previous research indicates that reduced work ability and high sick leave may be linked to an unhealthy lifestyle. This thesis examines the significance of unhealthy diet, low physical activity, overweight/obesity and smoking with regard to reduced work ability and sick leave in a general working population. These lifestyle risk factors have also been combined in an index to examine their cumulative effect on work ability and sick leave.

The thesis comprises three studies based on data from the ‘Telemark Study’. The first two studies analyse the responses of 10 355 persons. The first study identifies a link between an unhealthy lifestyle and reduced work ability, as well as a link between an elevated lifestyle risk index score and reduced work ability. The second study focuses on lifestyle, work ability and sick leave among persons with physician-diagnosed asthma. This study demonstrates a stronger link between obesity, smoking and a high lifestyle risk index score and sick leave among persons with reported asthma than among persons without asthma.

Since a relatively large proportion of the population suffers from lifestyle-related illnesses and diseases such as respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental illness, the third study focuses specifically on these. The study, which analyses data provided by 6 267 persons at the five-year follow-up point of the study, does not demonstrate a higher risk of reduced work ability or sick leave for persons with such illnesses and conditions. However, an association is identified between lifestyle risk factors at the time of initial data collection (2013) and work ability and sick leave five years later (2018) in the general working population.

The thesis shows that individual lifestyle factors – both individually and cumulatively in the form of a lifestyle risk factor index – may be linked with reduced work ability and sick leave. Smoking in particular has consistently been found to be associated with absence from work and reduced work ability. While the links between smoking and socioeconomic differences in health are well-known, it may be helpful to include multiple lifestyle factors in studies examining the risk of reduced work ability and increased sick leave on a population level.