Abstract
This study aims to estimate the economic costs of sickness absenteeism of health care workers in a large Italian teaching hospital during the seasonal flu periods. A retrospective observational study was performed. The excess data of hospital’s sickness absenteeism during three seasonal influenza periods (2010/2011; 2011/2012; 2012/2013) came from a previous study. The cost of sickness absenteeism was calculated for six job categories: medical doctor, technical executive (i.e., pharmacists); nurses and allied health professionals (i.e., radiographer), other executives (i.e., engineer), non-medical support staff, and administrative staff, and for four age ranges: <39, 40–49, 50–59, and >59 years. An average of 5401 employees working each year were under study. There were over 11,100 working days/year lost associated with an influenza period in Italy, the costs associated were approximately 1.7 million euros, and the average work loss was valued at € 327/person. The major shares of cost appeared related to nurses and allied health professionals (45% of total costs). The highest costs for working days lost were reported in the 40–49 age range, accounting for 37% of total costs. Due to the substantial economic burden of sickness absenteeism, there are clear benefits to be gained from the effective prevention of the influenza.
Highlights
Epidemic influenza is a contagious disease that affects people of all ages and imposes substantial burdens on healthcare systems
This study demonstrated that epidemic periods substantially affects health care workers (HCWs) absenteeism, with significantly higher sick leave than during non-epidemic periods
These results indicated that an influenza epidemic accounts for thousands of days lost from work and causes substantial economic losses via HCW sick days
Summary
Epidemic influenza is a contagious disease that affects people of all ages and imposes substantial burdens on healthcare systems. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 5–15% of the population is affected during each annual influenza epidemic, which entails 3–5 million cases of severe illness worldwide each year. The influenza epidemic impacts the working population and a systematic review and meta-analysis of influenza incidence in health care workers (HCWs) and other healthy adults suggested that HCWs are at higher risk for influenza infection as compared to healthy adults working in non-healthcare settings [1]. Influenza can contribute to significant absenteeism during annual epidemics or occasional pandemics. The assessment of the impact of influenza on work has been undertaken in the health care sector. An epidemic of influenza A in Winnipeg resulted in an almost
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