In early January, the first meeting of the EBiSA project (Welfare State and Health: career path, disability and mortality in a cohort of Social Security affiliates, 2004-2013) was held. This research was headed by the Centre for Research in Occupational Health (CiSAL) at UPF.

The progressive ageing of the workforce, the raised retirement age, the rise in chronic health problems and an increasingly insecure and flexible labour market are just some of the aspects that end up affecting the quality of life of individuals and society as a whole.

The challenge of this research project is, therefore, to evaluate the relationship between health and career path that a person has had throughout his or her life. With this goal, the study will be based on the Spanish Social Security's Mostra Contínua de Vides Laborals (MCVL), or Continuous Sample of Working Histories, which provides information about the career path, disabilities and deaths of approximately 800,000 people between 2004 and 2013.

Based on these data, the research group is to carry out a case study on the 112,251 people over 15 who died between the years included in the sample and compare it with a control group selected from among people of the same age who are still alive.

In addition, the research will also prepare two retrospective cohorts. The first will include the 164,385 people who had at least one episode of temporary incapacity in 2009; the second is based on all persons who appear in the MCVL and have had at least one episode of incapacity for work in 2009 and 2012.

The project coordinator is professor Fernando G. Benavides, director of the CiSAL-UPF of the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences at UPF. Other CISAL members also participating in the research are Jordi Delclos, Albert Sánchez, María Andrée and Elena Zaballa.

In addition to the members of the CISAL-UPF, the project will also involve researchers from the University of Oviedo, Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, the Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries (AQuAS) -Catalan Agency for Health Information, Assessment and Quality, the Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona -Barcelona Public Health Agency, and the Institut Municipal d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM) -Municipal Institute of Medical Research- of the Mar Health Park.

Funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III, the study is part of the "Strategic Action in Health (AES 2014)" announcem ent of grants promoted by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in order to subsidize research projects into health.