Sickness absence diagnoses among abstainers, low‐risk drinkers and at‐risk drinkers: consideration of the U‐shaped association between alcohol use and sickness absence in four cohort studies

Aims To estimate differences in the strength and shape of associations between alcohol use and diagnosis‐specific sickness absence. Design A multi‐cohort study. Participants ( n = 47 520) responded to a survey on alcohol use at two time‐points, and were linked to records of sickness absence. Diagnosis‐specific sickness absence was followed for 4–7 years from the latter survey. Setting and participants From Finland, we had population cohort...