Sickness Presence among Health Care Professionals: A Cross Sectional Study of Health Care Professionals in Slovenia.

Alenka Skerjanc,Metoda Dodic Fikfak

doi:10.3390/ijerph17010367

Abstract

Background and objectives: Presenteeism is a relatively new phenomenon that people, despite complaints and ill health that should prompt them to rest and take sick leave, go to work in any case. The highest sickness presence is largely to be found in the care and welfare and educational sectors. The aim of the study is to investigate the relations between different factors and sickness presence among health care professionals. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the largest hospital in Slovenia involving 5865 health care professionals employed at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana in the period between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010. Logistic regression methods were used to assess the associations between risk factors and their interactions and sickness presence. Results: Besides high odds for sickness presence in multivariate modelling for acute (OR = 359.7; 95%CI = 89.1–1452.8) and chronic disease (OR = 722.5; 95%CI = 178.5–2924.5) the highest odds were calculated for poor self-related health (OR = 3.0; 95%CI = 1.9–4.8), no possibility of replacement (OR = 1.9; 95%CI = 1.5–2.3), sickness absence > two times a year (OR = 1.6; 95%CI = 1.2–2.1), disabled workers (OR = 1.6; 95%CI = 1.0–2.5), and lower salary when on sick leave (OR = 1.5; 95%CI = 120–1.9). Risk factors interactions were not found to be associated with sickness presence among health care workers. Conclusions: The pre-requisite for higher sickness presence is workers’ bad health. The results indicate that sickness presence was associated with psycho social risk factors at work and their economic consequences. Continued sickness presence might have negative rather than positive consequences on work and health care professionals’ health in the future. Sickness presence needs to be taken into account for health care organizers.

Highlights

Presenteeism is a relatively new “phenomenon that people, despite complaints and ill health that should prompt them to rest and take sick leave, go to work in any case” [1,2]
The results indicate that sickness presence was associated with psycho social risk factors at work and their economic consequences
Five models were calculated: In the first model we included all variables related to life events which reached odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) > 1 in previous univariate logistic regression and adjusted for demographic variables (Model 1); in the model we included work related and psycho-social factors which reached OR and 95 % CI > 1 in previous univariate logistic regression and adjusted for demographic variables (Model 2); in Model 3 we included health measures which reached OR and 95 % CI > 1 in previous univariate logistic regression and adjusted for demographic variables ); the full model with all significant variables from univariate logistic regression

Summary

Introduction

Presenteeism is a relatively new “phenomenon that people, despite complaints and ill health that should prompt them to rest and take sick leave, go to work in any case” [1,2]. Thirty to forty percent of employees are supposed not to have taken sick leave in the period of one year [8,9] These are zero-absentees who are healthy and who do not experience health problems for a longer time as well as employees who feel sick, but work . Presenteeism is a relatively new phenomenon that people, despite complaints and ill health that should prompt them to rest and take sick leave, go to work in any case.

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion