Risk of pain in the neck and shoulders and job change among hairdressers: a combined questionnaire and register-based Danish prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether intensity of work as a hairdresser was associated with treatments for pain, and if musculoskeletal pain was associated with leaving the hairdressing trade. METHODS We formed two cohorts of hairdressers covered in the PensionDanmark Health Scheme (PDHS). Cohort 1 consisted of 1304 active hairdressers in 2009. Self-reported weekly haircuts were used as work intensity measure and treatments for pain in the neck and shoulders in PDHS were used as outcome. We used a Cox regression model with robust sandwich estimates adjusted for age, sex, employment status and prior treatment < 1 year before July 2009. Cohort 2 consisted of all hairdressers ever covered in the PDHS from 2006 to 2016 (n = 11,162). Exposure were treatments in PDHS within the last year. Outcome was leaving the trade within the following year. Adjustments were made for sex, calendar-year and age in Cox regression models. RESULTS The adjusted hazard ratio of treatments in PDHS compared to the lowest work intensity was 0.95 (95% CI 0.58-1.55) and 0.74 (0.43-1.29) for medium and highest intensity, respectively. The risk of leaving the trade was lower, HR 0.80 (0.72-0.90) among hairdressers with treatments in PDHS within the last year, mainly driven by hairdressers aged < 56 years. CONCLUSION We found no association between intensity of work as a hairdresser, measured as self-reported weekly haircuts, and treatments for pain in PDHS. Furthermore, we found a protective effect of treatments in the PDHS within the last year on risk of leaving the trade.