Health-related selection into employment among the unemployed

Abstract Background Successful transitions from unemployment to employment are an important concern, yet little is known about health-related selection into employment. We assessed the association of various physical and psychiatric conditions with finding employment, and employment stability. Methods Using total population register data, we followed Finnish residents aged 30–60 with an unemployment spell during 2009–2018 (n = 814,085) for two years from the onset of unemployment. We predicted any, stable, and unstable employment by health status using Cox proportional hazards models. The data on specialized health care and prescription reimbursement were used to identify any alcohol-related conditions and poisonings, psychiatric conditions and self-harm, injuries, and physical conditions. We further separated physical conditions into cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurological conditions, and psychiatric conditions into depression, anxiety disorders and substance use disorders. Results The likelihood of any employment was lower among those who had any