Diabetes, sleep apnoea on rise in Finland: THL

The incidence of diabetes and chronic pulmonary diseases is growing sharply in all wellbeing services counties in Finland, according to the National Health Index.

The increase in the occurrence of pulmonary diseases is explained by the growing prevalence of sleep apnoea diagnoses, which in turn is caused especially by the increase in obesity rates among the working-age population, said the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a press release on Thursday referring to the index.

Obesity is also closely associated with the prevalence of diabetes.

In addition, obesity and a lack of exercise are linked to many other medical conditions, and they may contribute to the increase of mental health problems, musculoskeletal disorders and circulatory diseases in the long term.

“Obesity and its comorbidities are clearly a growing public health problem. If we cannot stop the rise in obesity rates, morbidity and work disability will increase in the future,” said Kati Sarnola, Senior Researcher of the Social Insurance Institution-Kela.

According to the latest results from the National Health Index, rates of work disability are on the decline among the population in Uusimaa while primarily increasing elsewhere in Finland.

Morbidity, however, is changing in different ways in different diagnostic categories.

For example, the occurrence of coronary disease is declining in all of Finland.

The statistics on work disability exhibit regional variance in Finland. In Uusimaa, work disability rates have declined from before while primarily remaining the same or increasing in other parts of the country.

The differences in sickness allowance periods between Uusimaa and the rest of Finland have increased between 2017 and 2024. The incidence of sickness allowance periods has increased further in regions where sickness allowance periods were already more prevalent than in Finland on average.

Correspondingly, sickness allowance periods have decreased further in regions with a lower incidence of sickness allowance periods compared to the rest of Finland.

Regional differences have remained fairly small in terms of disability pensions, while regional differences in vocational rehabilitation have narrowed.

Regions show significant variation in the development of strain caused by different diagnostic categories between 2017 and 2024.

When examined by diagnostic category, the largest regional differences can be observed in alcohol morbidity and mental health disorders. Regional differences exist not only in morbidity but also in the use and availability of services.

Disability pensions granted for mental health reasons have decreased in all regions. This may be due to growing rejection rates for applications for disability pension made on mental health related grounds. Suicide mortality was on the decline for a long time but has stagnated in recent years.

Concurrently, other mental health indicators are showing developments that give cause for alarm. Mental strain has increased especially among young people of working age, suicidal ideation has become more prevalent, and the use of antidepressants has become more common especially among young women.

“Mental health remains a concern in Finland. Early access to care needs to be improved and mental health problems should be addressed quickly to prevent them from becoming chronic if we do not want to lose entire careers,” said Sarnola.

Incidence of cardiovascular disease on wane

For coronary disease and cerebrovascular disease, morbidity has fallen sharply in many regions where their morbidity was high in 2017 based on the indices for coronary disease and cerebrovascular disease. Such regions include, for example, South Karelia, South Savo and Päijät-Häme.

However, the decline in the incidence of cardiovascular disease appears to have stagnated in southern Finland where morbidity was already lower to begin with.

“Disease prevention remains the most effective way to support health. Reliable information on what a healthy lifestyle looks like is already available, but there is a need for societal incentives that encourage the population to make healthy choices, such as health-based taxation,” said Suvi Parikka, Research Manager of the THL.

The National Health Index compiles comprehensive data on morbidity and work disability in one place, allowing reliable comparisons between regions. The indices support decision-making in the wellbeing services counties and help identify regional needs more accurately.