de Paiva LG, dos Santos WM, Dalmolin GDL. The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on sickness absenteeism among hospital workers.
Rev Bras Med Trab 2022;
20:65-71. [PMID:
36118073 PMCID:
PMC9444217 DOI:
10.47626/1679-4435-2022-787]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction:
Worker illness and, more recently, infection by the severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can manifest as sickness absence,
considerably increasing absenteeism rates, which were already rising.
Objectives:
To determine the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on sickness absence rates
among hospital workers and on the costs associated with them.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study with 1,229 workers at a University Hospital in the
South of Brazil. Data were collected from absenteeism records for the period
from September 2014 to December 2020 held in the Occupational Health Service
database. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential
statistics.
Results:
The mean sickness absenteeism rate was 3.25% and a significant increase was
observed during the pandemic (5.10%) when compared to the pre-pandemic
period (2.97%) (p = 0.02). During the pandemic, the mean number of sickness
absence days was 2.03 times greater and the mean daily cost increased 2.49
times. Administrative assistants had the lowest relative risk (RR) of
infection (RR: 0.5120; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.2628-0.9974). In
turn, the nursing team (RR: 1.37; 95%CI 1.052-1.787), physiotherapists (RR:
1.7148; 95%CI 1.0434-2.8183), and speech therapists (RR: 2.7090; 95%CI
1.5550-4.7195) were at greatest risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Conclusions:
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic led to an increase in sickness absence among workers
in a hospital setting. The nursing team, physiotherapists, and speech
therapists were at greatest risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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