Overview of occupational health care published – sectoral differences in the reasons for sickness absence

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) have published an overview on occupational health care.  

“The overviews being published now provide a clear and visual way to monitor the annual trends of occupational health care operations targeted at employee customers,” says Sari Nissinen, Chief Specialist at FIOH.

The views describe events according to Kela’s compensation categories, the content of preventive measures, appointment diagnoses and sick leaves.  

In addition to the number of visits, the data can be viewed according to the number of clients or professionals, the method of contact (remote/present), age group, gender or workplace sector, for example. The data is based on The Register of Primary Health Care visits (Avohilmo) submitted by occupational health service providers to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

The data is updated every few months.  

The overview shows the differences between sectors

The reasons for sickness absences recorded by occupational health care vary between various sectors.

"Now, we have a detailed and comprehensive overview of the diagnoses of all occupational health care appointments and information on sickness absences recorded in occupational health care. Being able to review this data also by sector provides in-depth information about the incidence of illness and causes of work disability in different sectors," says Satu Soini, Chief Physician at FIOH.

For example, in public administration and defence, as well as health and social services, the most common reasons for absences are mental health and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders are the second most common.  

In the industrial sector, the most common diagnosis for sickness absence is musculoskeletal disorders, whereas absences due to mental and behavioral disorders are almost half as frequent.

The most common individual diagnosis causing sickness absence in occupational health care is respiratory tract infections, which cause more than one million days of work disability each year. Other anxiety disorders have caused almost as many days of incapacity for work. These have become increasingly prevalent during the follow-up period. Depression and back pain are also quite common.

The comprehensive overview is the result of many years of work  

Research institutes and occupational health service providers have cooperated for several years to ensure that the data has been recorded comprehensively in Avohilmo. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) have signed a framework agreement on data co-operation.

"The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare both aim to improve the coverage and quality of occupational health care data. We make use of both institutions' expertise to publish high-quality statistical products," says Kaisa Pyrhönen, Development Manager at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

“We will continue to work to provide an overview of occupational health care, because a comprehensive overview will also require including activities targeted at employer customers, such as workplace surveys and planning of operations,” says Sari Nissinen.  

Learn more

• The occupational health care overview dataset can be viewed in the Working Life Data service (in Finnish).
• The English version will be published on February 6, 2026.
• The views are beneficial for occupational health care professionals, service providers and workplaces, as well as providers of training, researchers and developers in the sector as well as everyone paying attention to the occupational health care sector.
   

Further information

• Sari Nissinen, Chief Specialist, +358 (0)43 825 2435, sari.nissinen@ttl.fi
• Satu Soini, Chief Physician, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, +358 (0)46 851 5858, satu.soini@ttl.fi
• Kaisa Pyrhönen, Development Manager, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, kaisa.pyrhonen@thl.fi