Abstract
ObjectivesTo analyze absenteeism among healthcare workers (HCWs) at a large Italian hospital and to estimate the increase in absenteeism that occurred during seasonal flu periods.DesignRetrospective observational study.MethodsThe absenteeism data were divided into three “epidemic periods,” starting at week 42 of one year and terminating at week 17 of the following year (2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2012–2013), and three “non-epidemic periods,” defined as week 18 to week 41 and used as baseline data. The excess of the absenteeism occurring among HCWs during periods of epidemic influenza in comparison with baseline was estimated. All data, obtained from Hospital’s databases, were collected for each of the following six job categories: medical doctors, technical executives (i.e., pharmacists), nurses and allied health professionals (i.e., radiographers), other executives (i.e., engineers), nonmedical support staff, and administrative staff. The HCWs were classified by: in and no-contact; vaccinated and unvaccinated.Results5,544, 5,369, and 5,291 workers in three years were studied. The average duration of absenteeism during the epidemic periods increased among all employees by +2.07 days/person (from 2.99 to 5.06), and the relative increase ranged from 64–94% among the different job categories. Workers not in contact with patients experienced a slightly greater increase in absenteeism (+2.28 days/person, from 2.73 to 5.01) than did employees in contact with patients (+2.04, from 3.04 to 5.08). The vaccination rate among HCWs was below 3%, however the higher excess of absenteeism rate among unvaccinated in comparison with vaccinated workers was observed during the epidemic periods (2.09 vs 1.45 days/person).ConclusionThe influenza-related absenteeism during epidemic periods was quantified as totaling more than 11,000 days/year at the Italian hospital studied. This result confirms the economic impact of sick leave on healthcare systems and stresses on the necessity of encouraging HCWs to be immunized against influenza.
Highlights
The annual occurrence of seasonal flu epidemics and subsequent work absenteeism, coupled with the low immunization coverage achieved among healthcare workers (HCWs), may have a significant impact on patient health, requiring targeted policy interventions.The WHO has estimated that as a result of seasonal influenza epidemics, 5–15% of the population is affected by upper respiratory infections, and 3–5 million cases of severe illness and between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths occur each year worldwide [1].Globally, access to vaccination is considered insufficient in many populations, including high-risk groups
The vaccination rate among HCWs was below 3%, the higher excess of absenteeism rate among unvaccinated in comparison
The influenza-related absenteeism during epidemic periods was quantified as totaling more than 11,000 days/year at the Italian hospital studied
Summary
The annual occurrence of seasonal flu epidemics and subsequent work absenteeism, coupled with the low immunization coverage achieved among healthcare workers (HCWs), may have a significant impact on patient health, requiring targeted policy interventions.The WHO has estimated that as a result of seasonal influenza epidemics, 5–15% of the population is affected by upper respiratory infections, and 3–5 million cases of severe illness and between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths occur each year worldwide [1].Globally, access to vaccination is considered insufficient in many populations, including high-risk groups. The annual occurrence of seasonal flu epidemics and subsequent work absenteeism, coupled with the low immunization coverage achieved among healthcare workers (HCWs), may have a significant impact on patient health, requiring targeted policy interventions. The WHO has estimated that as a result of seasonal influenza epidemics, 5–15% of the population is affected by upper respiratory infections, and 3–5 million cases of severe illness and between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths occur each year worldwide [1]. The WHO objective of achieving vaccination coverage of at least 50% by 2006 and 75% by 2010 in the elderly population and among at-risk individuals was not met [2]. In elderly subjects (!65 years), vaccination rates ranged from a minimum of 14% (Ireland) to a maximum of 70% (UK). Immunization rates were low, even among patients with chronic respiratory or cardiovascular diseases (25–60%) and the elderly (17– 90%)
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