Table 1 Demographic, occupational and general health characteristics of Australian and New Zealand nurses and midwives with neck pain in the preceding 12-months by whether they took no sick leave (n = 1511) or sick leave (n = 343), together with the bivariable associations between these factors and neck pain related sick leave (NP-SL)

Demographic factors

Age in years, mean (SD)

44.3

(9.3)

42.1

(9.8)

0.98

(0.96, 0.99)

<0.001

Gender, n (%)

0.52

  Female

1407

(93.1)

316

(92.1)

1.00

(reference)

  Male

104

(6.9)

27

(7.9)

1.16

(0.74, 1.80)

Marital status, n (%)

0.37

  Never married

239

(16.1)

64

(18.9)

1.00

(reference)

  Married/de facto

1049

(70.4)

235

(69.3)

0.84

(0.61, 1.14)

  Divorced/separated/widowed

201

(13.5)

40

(11.8)

0.74

(0.48, 1.15)

Country, n (%)

0.01

  New Zealand

283

(18.7)

44

(12.8)

1.00

(reference)

  Australia

1228

(81.3)

299

(87.2)

1.57

(1.11, 2.20)

Occupational factors

Job classification, n (%)

0.36

  Registered nurse/midwife

700

(67.0)

143

(60.6)

1.00

(reference)

  Enrolled nurse/nurse assistant

85

(8.1)

27

(11.4)

1.56

(0.97, 2.49)

  Specialist registered nurse/midwife

125

(12.0)

32

(13.6)

1.25

(0.82, 1.92)

  Administrator/manager

98

(9.4)

25

(10.6)

1.25

(0.78, 2.01)

  Academic/university lecturer

36

(3.4)

9

(3.8)

1.22

(0.58, 2.60)

Current shift work, n (%)*

825

(54.8)

214

(62.8)

1.39

(1.09, 1.77)

0.01

Manual handling frequency, mean (SD)

5.7

(6.0)

6.9

(7.0)

1.03

(1.01, 1.05)

0.002

Physical demands, mean (SD)

4.9

(1.6)

5.1

(1.6)

1.08

(1.00, 1.16)

0.04

General health factors

General physical health, mean (SD)

50.9

(7.2)

47.5

(8.3)

0.95

(0.93, 0.96)

<0.001

Co-morbid low back pain, n (%)*

1061

(71.5)

237

(70.4)

1.06

(0.82, 1.37)

0.68

Pregnant, n (%)*

35

(2.4)

6

(1.8)

0.76

(0.32, 1.83)

0.54

Asthma, n (%)*

327

(22.9)

95

(29.5)

1.41

(1.08, 1.85)

0.01

Emphysema/chronic bronchitis, n (%)*

30

(2.1)

3

(0.9)

0.44

(0.13, 1.50)

0.18

Pneumonia, n (%)*

141

(9.8)

25

(7.8)

0.77

(0.50, 1.20)

0.25

High blood pressure, n (%)*

221

(15.4)

62

(19.3)

1.31

(0.96, 1.79)

0.09

Hours of sleep, n (%)

0.06

  ≥ 8

270

(26.1)

52

(22.3)

1.00

(reference)

  6-7

675

(65.3)

150

(64.4)

1.15

(0.82, 1.63)

  ≤ 5

88

(8.5)

31

(13.3)

1.83

(1.10, 3.03)

Smoking status, n (%)

0.93

  Never smoked

749

(51.9)

120

(51.8)

1.00

(reference)

  Ex-smoker

489

(33.9)

108

(33.1)

0.98

(0.75, 1.28)

  Current smoker

206

(14.3)

49

(15.0)

1.05

(0.74, 1.50)