Prevalence of absenteeism among public service workers <b>[Abstract in English]</b>

Abstract

Aims: To determine the prevalence of absenteeism among the municipal public workers of the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo State, Brazil. Methods: This was a cross sectional study with a sample of 400 individuals who were randomly selected among the employees registered in the database file of the Department of Occupational Medicine of the City Hall. Medical records from the Occupation Medicine Department were revised in order to obtain information about socio-demographic status, years of work in the institution, number of sick leave, number of absent days, and causes of sick leave according to the International Classification of Diseases. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of theSuperior School of Science from the Santa Casa de Misericórdia. Results: About 76% of the individuals had a stable work contract and had up to five years of work (40.25%). There was a high prevalence of absenteeism (75.25%) and the respiratory diseases (35.79%) were identified as the main cause, although cancer and diabetes were the diseases which reached the higher median of absent days (19 and 19, respectively). Women had more sick leaves, and the relationship between sick leave and gender was statistically significant (p=0.043). A significant association (p=0.015) was verified between the number of absent days and years of work, with the individuals with 16 to 20 years of work accounting for the higher median of sick leaves. Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of absenteeism, highlighting the importance of investments for the promotion and protection of workers’ health. KEY WORDS: ABSENTEISM; OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE; SICK LEAVE; OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH.