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Sickness Absence (sickness + absence)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%
Humanities and Social Sciences	12%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	8%

Selected Abstracts

Some alternatives in the statistical analysis of sickness absence

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 10 2009
Albert Navarro
Abstract Purpose Sickness absence (SA) is a commonly used outcome in occupational health cohort studies. Without the use of statistical techniques that take into account that SA is a recurrent event, the probability of obtaining biased estimates of the effects related to SA is very high. The objective of this article is to examine the application of marginal models, comparing them to count-based models, when the outcome of interest is SA. Methods By re-sampling the data of a reference study, 1,000 samples of 1,200 individuals were generated. In each of these samples, the coefficients of two factors were estimated by fitting various models: Poisson, Negative Binomial, standard Cox model for a first occurrence, Andersen,Gill and Prentice,Williams,Peterson. Results In general, differences among the models are observed in the estimates of variances and coefficients, as well as in their distribution. Specifically, the Poisson model estimates the greatest effect for both coefficients (IRR,=,1.17 and IRR,=,1.60), and the Prentice,Williams,Peterson the least effect (HR,=,1.01 and HR,=,1.26). Conclusions Whenever possible, the instantaneous form of analysis should be used for occurrences of a recurrent event. Collection of study data should be organized in order to permit recording of the most complete information possible, particularly regarding event occurrences. This should allow the presence of within-individual heterogeneity and/or occurrence dependency to be studied, and would further permit the most appropriate model to be chosen. When there is occurrence dependence, the choice of a model using the specific baseline hazard seems to be appropriate. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:811,816, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Sickness absence and workplace levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions at public service workplaces

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2009
Torsten Munch-Hansen MSc
Abstract Background The objective of this study was to examine the impact of psychosocial work conditions on sickness absence while addressing methodological weaknesses in earlier studies. Methods The participants were 13,437 employees from 698 public service workplace units in Aarhus County, Denmark. Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions was rated on a scale from 0 (low) to 10 (high). Individual ratings were aggregated to workplace scores. Analysis of variance was used to compare the average number of days of yearly sickness absence in three groups with different levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions. Results Sickness absence was 30.8% lower in the most satisfied group (11.7 days/year (CI 95%: 10.2; 13.1)) than in the least satisfied group (16.9 days/year (CI 95%: 15.3; 18.6)) adjusted for the covariates included. Conclusions Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions has a strong and independent impact on sickness absence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:153,161, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

,Too scared to go sick',reformulating the research agenda on sickness absence

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010
Phil Taylor
ABSTRACT This article argues that our understanding of absence and absenteeism, deriving from seminal studies in the sociology of work and employment, has been overtaken by hugely significant developments in political economy, regulation and employment relations. A new research agenda that addresses the changed organisational politics of absence management and the consequences for employees is urgently required. [source]

Neck pain and disability: A cross-sectional survey of the demographic and clinical characteristics of neck pain seen in a rheumatology clinic

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2005
A.O. Frank
Summary This hospital-based cross-sectional cohort study examines the clinical and demographic features of neck pain, disability (using the Northwick Park neck pain questionnaire) and relationships to handicap in employment. Of 173 consecutive referrals to a rheumatology clinic with neck pain, 70% had neck/arm pain without neurological involvement, 13% other conditions, 11% nerve involvement and 5% other spinal pain. 141 patients (mean age 50 years) had mechanical or degenerative neck pain, of which 13% was probably work-related and 13% was trauma-related. 44 had taken sickness absence for an average of 30 weeks. Comorbidities were frequent (lumbar pain 51%). Those in work were significantly less disabled than those not working (p = 0.001) and those off sick (p < 0.01). Those reporting sleep disturbance, tearfulness and crying were significantly more disabled (p = 0.0001) than those who did not. Neck pain in secondary care is complicated by physical and emotional comorbidities. Comprehensive management requires a biopsychosocial model of care. [source]

Burnout, psychosomatic symptoms and job satisfaction among Dutch nurse anaesthetists: a survey

ACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2010
V. MEEUSEN
Background: To meet the increasing demand for healthcare providers, it is crucial to recruit and retain more nurse anaesthetists (NAs). The majority of NAs in the Netherlands are >45 years old, and retaining them in their jobs is very important. This study investigates the relationships among burnout, physical health and job satisfaction among Dutch NAs. Methods: Two thousand NAs working in Dutch hospitals were invited to participate in this online questionnaire. We tested the relationships among burnout, psychosomatic symptoms, sickness absence, perceived general health and job satisfaction. Results: Nine hundred and twenty-three questionnaires were completed and analysed (46% response rate). Burnout and psychosomatic symptoms were negatively associated with job satisfaction, and predicted 27% of job satisfaction. Perceived general health was positively and sickness absence was negatively related to job satisfaction. Older NAs had a higher incidence of burnout than their younger counterparts. Conclusions: The results confirmed the importance of a healthy psychosocial work environment for promoting job satisfaction. To prevent burnout, further research is necessary to determine the factors causing stress. These findings may also apply to anaesthesiologists who share many tasks and work in close cooperation with NAs. [source]

Curing The Dutch Disease?

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 4 2000
Sickness Absence, Work Disability in The Netherlands
The purpose of the current paper is to provide an overview and evaluation, covering the past decade, of developments and experiences in the Netherlands with respect to the prevention and reduction of sickness absence and work disability. The government has made various attempts to restrict expenditure in this area by increasing the (financial) responsibility of employers. It is concluded that the legislative changes do not seem to have long-lasting effects on sickness absence and work disability rates and have not worked out in practice as well as was foreseen. Employers , particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), often buy minimum service packages from occupational health services (OHSs), show risk-avoiding behaviour, and primarily undertake procedural and person-oriented measures. Some lessons may be learned from the Netherlands' approach, concerning (1) the principle of self-regulation; (2) the position of SMEs; (3) the privatizing of OHSs; (4) examples of good practice. [source]

Impact of recurrent changes in the work environment on nurses' psychological well-being and sickness absence

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 6 2006
Rik Verhaeghe MSc RN
Aim., This paper is a report of a study of how the occurrence and appraisal of recurrent changes in the work environment of hospital nurses affect psychological well-being (i.e. job satisfaction, eustress and distress) and absence through illness. Background., Many researchers have demonstrated the impact of major organizational changes on employees' psychological well-being, but only a few have focused on the permanent consequences in work conditions. In a contemporary healthcare setting, an increased number of recurrent operational changes has become a normal characteristic of nurses' work environment. Specific work situations have frequently been associated with occupational stress, whereas employees' appraisal of recurrent changes as stressors and their relation to psychological well-being and health outcomes (i.e. sickness absence) have been dismissed. Methods., A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in 2003 with 2094 Registered Nurses in 10 general hospitals. Logistic regressions were used to investigate the impact on psychological well-being and prospectively measured rates of sickness absence (frequency and duration). Results., The occurrence of changes in the work environment (in the past 6 months) had had a negative impact on staff psychological well-being. Nurses who had been confronted with changes scored statistically significantly higher for distress. Changes appraised as threatening were negatively related to job satisfaction and eustress, and positively related to distress and sickness absence (frequency and duration). Changes appraised as challenging were positively related to job satisfaction and eustress but had no impact on distress and sickness absence. Conclusion., Future research should take into consideration the impact of the occurrence and appraisal of recurrent changes in the work environment of healthcare employees (i.e. Registered Nurses) on psychological well-being and sickness absence. This should also be considered by managers when dealing with these nursing workforce issues. [source]

Occupational stress in (inter)action: the interplay between job demands and job resources

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2005
Natasja van Vegchel
The present study addresses theoretical issues involving different interaction effects between job demands and job resources, accompanied by a thorough empirical test of interaction terms in the demand,control (DC) model and the effort,reward imbalance (ERI) model in relation to employee health and well-being (i.e., exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints, company-registered sickness absence). Neither the DC model nor the ERI model gives a clear theoretical rationale or preference for a particular interaction term. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted among 405 nursing home employees and cross-validated in a comparable sample (N,=,471). Results including cross-validation showed that only a multiplicative interaction term yielded consistent results for both the DC model and the ERI model. Theoretical as well as empirical results argue for a multiplicative interaction term to test the DC model and the ERI model. Future job stress research may benefit from the idea that there should be a theoretical preference for any interaction form, either in the DC model or in the ERI model. However, more research on interactions is needed to address this topic adequately. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Sleep disturbances as a predictor of occupational injuries among public sector workers

JOURNAL OF SLEEP RESEARCH, Issue 1p2 2010
SIMO SALMINEN
Summary The association between disturbed sleep and increased risk of occupational injury has been observed in several cross-sectional and case,control studies, but prospective evidence is lacking. We examined prospectively whether sleep disturbances predicted occupational injuries in a large population of Finnish public sector employees. A total of 48 598 employees working in 10 municipalities and 21 hospitals in various parts of Finland were included. Sleep disturbances were assessed with the four-item Jenkins Sleep Problems Scale. Records of sickness absence due to occupational injury during the year following the survey were obtained from employers' registers. A proportion (9076; 22%) of participants reported disturbed sleep, and 978 (2.4%) had a recorded occupational injury. After adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics, the odds ratio (OR) for occupational injury was 1.38 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02,1.87] times higher for men with experiences of disturbed sleep than for those without sleep disturbances, but not significant for women. Of the sub-dimensions of sleep disturbances, the OR for occupational injury was 1.69 (95% CI 1.26,2.26) for women with difficulties initiating sleep, but not significant for men. These associations remained after additional adjustment for work stress, sleep length, obesity, alcohol use and mental health. This study suggests that sleep disturbances are a significant predictor of occupational injuries even after accounting for a range of covariates. [source]

Predicting long-term sickness absence from sleep and fatigue

JOURNAL OF SLEEP RESEARCH, Issue 4 2007
TORBJORN AKERSTEDT
Summary Disturbed or shortened sleep is prospectively related to disease. One might also expect that sickness absence would be another consequence but very little data seem to exist. The present study used 8300 individuals in a national sample to obtain information on reports of disturbed sleep and fatigue 1 year and merged this with data on long-term sickness absence 2 years later. A logistic regression analysis was applied to the data with adjustments for demographic and work environment variables. The results showed that individuals without registered sickness absence at the start had a higher probability of entering a period of long-term (,90 days, odds ratio [OR] = 1.24 with 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02,1.51) sickness absence 2 years later if they reported disturbed sleep at the start. The figure for fatigue was OR = 1.35 (CI = 1.14,1.60). When fatigue or disturbed sleep was separately excluded the OR increased to OR = 1.44 and OR = 1.47, respectively. Intermediate sickness absence (14,89 days) showed similar but slightly weaker results. The results indicate that disturbed sleep and fatigue are predictors of long-term absence and it is suggested that impaired sleep may be part of a chain of causation, considering its effects on fatigue. [source]

Some alternatives in the statistical analysis of sickness absence

Sickness absence and workplace levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions at public service workplaces

Localised attitudes matter: a study of sickness absence in Sweden

POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 3 2008
Katarina Haugen
Abstract The central issues explored in this article are the importance of geographical location in explaining the attitudes of individuals, and the interplay between these attitudes and overt behaviour. The context is as follows: In the late 1990's, sick-listings in Sweden underwent a substantial increase, causing the public expenses for the general sickness insurance to soar. Moreover, the extent of the usage of the insurance was found to vary significantly across different regions within the country. This development of the sickness insurance generally, and the regional differences specifically, have since been the subject of an intense debate. Differences and/or changes in attitudes toward sick leave within the population have been proposed as possible reasons for the regional variations. Much of the discussion has, however, been based on speculative arguments rather than empirical studies. Using data from a survey conducted in 2005, this research explores whether geographical location influences individual attitudes toward sick leave, and whether these attitudes in turn influence the sickness absence of individuals. The data are analysed using factor analysis, ordinary linear regressions and logistic regressions. The results provide some support for the idea that geographical factors matter to individual attitudes, and that variation in these attitudes is in turn associated with propensity for sickness absence. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Work demands, job insecurity and sickness absence from work.

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2006
How productive is the new, flexible labour force?
Background: We investigate one aspect of productivity , sickness absence , and ask whether job insecurity and high work demands are associated with increased sickness absence and, if so, whether mental or physical health mediates this association. We further investigate if having control at work modifies these associations. Methods: We used cross-sectional survey data from 2,248 employees aged 40,44 years living in two cities of south-eastern Australia. Logistic regressions were used to compare the associations between job insecurity and demands among those with short (1,3 days) or long-term (>3 days) sickness absence with those who had no sickness absence in the last four weeks. The mediating effects of mental and physical health were assessed by evaluating changes in the magnitude of the association between these work conditions and sickness absence. Results: High job insecurity (OR=3.28; 95% CI 1.54-6.95) and high work demands (OR=1.62; 95% CI 1.13-2.30) were significantly associated with long-term, but not with short-term, sickness absence. These associations were unaffected by job control. Depression and anxiety explained 61% of the association between high work demands and long-term sickness absence and 30% of the association between job insecurity and long-term sickness absence. Conclusion: Difficult working conditions may reduce productivity by contributing to longer absences from work. Implications: Reforms intended to improve economic performance should address any potential health costs of insecurity or intensification, which could inadvertently decrease productivity, possibly through their impact on mental health. [source]

Danger,early maladaptive schemas at work!: the role of early maladaptive schemas in career choice and the development of occupational stress in health workers

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 2 2008
Martin Bamber
The schema-focused model of occupational stress and work dysfunctions (Bamber & Price, 2006; Bamber, 2006) hypothesizes that individuals with EMS (unconsciously) gravitate toward occupations with similar dynamics and structures to the toxic early environments and relationships that created them. They subsequently re-enact these EMS and their associated maladaptive coping styles in the workplace. For most individuals, this results in ,schema healing', but for some individuals with more rigid and severe EMS, schema healing is not achieved and the structures and relationships of the workplace, together with the utilization of maladaptive coping styles, serve to perpetuate their EMS. The model hypothesizes that it is these individuals who are most vulnerable to developing occupational stress syndromes To date, this model has been subjected to very little empirical investigation, so the main aim of this study was to address this gap in the literature by testing out some of its main assumptions and to provide empirical data, which would either support or reject the model using a population of health workers. Specifically, it was hypothesized that ,occupation-specific' EMS would be found in health workers from a range of different healthcare professions. It was also hypothesized that the presence of higher levels of EMS would be predictive of raised levels of occupational stress, psychiatric caseness and increased sickness absence in those individuals. A cross-sectional study design was employed and a total of 249 staff working within a NHS Trust, belonging to one of five occupational groups (medical doctors, nurses, clinical psychologists, IT staff and managers), participated in the study. All participants completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (Young, 1998); the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Form (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), and the General Health Questionnaire-28-item version (Goldberg, 1978). A demographic questionnaire and sickness absence data was also collected. The results of a between groups analysis of variance and further post hoc statistical analyses identified a number of occupation specific EMS. Also, the results of a series of multiple linear regression analyses indicated the presence of some EMS to be predictive of higher levels of burnout, psychiatric caseness and sickness absence in health workers. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide empirical support for the schema-focused model of occupational stress and work dysfunctions (Bamber & Price, 2006; Bamber, 2006), and it appears that the existence of underlying EMS may constitute a predisposing vulnerability factor to developing occupational stress.,Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]