Active commuting can be beneficial for health. We examined whether active commuting by walking or cycling was associated with a lower risk of sickness absence in a Finnish public sector cohort of 28 485 employees. We used negative binomial regression to test associations of weekly active commuting in kilometers (no, low, moderate, and high dose) with all‐cause sickness absence. Sickness absence data from employers registers comprised the number of (1) sickness absence days, (2) short (1–9 days) and (3) long (≥ 10 days) sickness absence episodes during 12‐ and 24‐month follow‐ups. The models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle risk factors, and previous sickness absence. To demonstrate absolute risk, we calculated sex‐ and age‐adjusted incidence for sickness absence per 100 person years for each active commuting exposure group. The associations of cycling and walking were additionally studied in separate analyses. Compared to passive commuters (no active commuting), high dose of active commuting (mean of 61 km/week) was associated with an 8%–12% lower relative risk of sickness absence days and an 18% lower relative risk of long episodes. The absolute rate of sickness absence per 100 person‐years was up to 452 days and 10 long episodes lower in the high‐dose active commuters group. In the further analyses separating cyclists and walkers, similar reduced risks were observed only among high‐dose cyclists. Our findings suggest that regular active commuting by bicycle has potential for reducing sickness absence by reducing the risk of long sickness absence episodes.

中文翻译：

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芬兰公共部门 28 485 名员工积极通勤与病假之间的关联


积极通勤对健康有益。我们检查了在 28 485 名芬兰公共部门雇员的队列中，步行或骑自行车积极通勤是否与较低的病假风险相关。我们使用负二项式回归来检验以公里为单位的每周积极通勤（无、低、中和高剂量）与全因疾病缺勤的关联。雇主登记册的病假数据包括 12 个月和 24 个月随访期间 （1） 病假天数、（2） 短（1-9 天）和 （3） 长时间（≥ 10 天）病假次数。这些模型根据社会人口学因素、生活方式风险因素和既往病假进行了调整。为了证明绝对风险，我们计算了每个活跃通勤暴露组每 100 人年病假的性别和年龄调整后发生率。在单独的分析中还研究了骑自行车和步行的关联。与被动通勤者（无主动通勤）相比，高剂量的主动通勤（平均 61 公里/周）与病假相对风险降低 8%-12% 和长时间发作的相对风险降低 18% 相关。在高剂量活跃通勤者组中，每 100 人年的绝对病假率高达 452 天，长时间发作低 10 次。在将骑自行车者和步行者分开的进一步分析中，仅在高剂量骑自行车者中观察到类似的降低风险。我们的研究结果表明，定期骑自行车积极通勤有可能通过降低长期病假发作的风险来减少病假。