Sick leave and disability pension following delivery in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective: To investigate sickness benefits following delivery in mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and mothers without SLE. Method: SLE and non-SLE mothers, matched by age and month of delivery, with a singleton liveborn (2004–2008), were identified from the Swedish Lupus Linkage cohort. Work loss (sum of sick leave and disability pension) was studied from 1 year prenatally to 3 years postpartum. Adjusted logistic regression models of covariates associated with > 30 days of work loss in the first and second years postpartum were estimated in SLE mothers. Results: Among 130 SLE mothers and 440 non-SLE mothers, SLE mothers were more likely to have work loss from the prenatal year (42% vs 16%) to 3 years postpartum (49% vs 15%). In SLE mothers, work loss was on average 61 ± 112 days (mean ± sd) in the prenatal year and 38 ± 83 days in the first year postpartum, which increased to 71 ± 114 days in the third year postpartum. Having > 30 days of sick leave in the year of delivery [odds ratio (OR) 4.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5–12.9] and ≤ 12 years of education (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.1–6.0) were associated with work loss in the first year postpartum. No covariates were associated with work loss in the second year postpartum. Conclusion: SLE mothers more often had work loss in the prenatal year to 3 years postpartum compared to non-SLE mothers. Lower education and sick leave in the year of delivery were associated with a higher odds of work loss in the first year postpartum in SLE.