Table 1.
Published articles on COVID-19-associated absenteeism among HCP (as of 4 February 2023).
| Country/Study Design | Study Period | Setting | No of HCP | Absent HCP | Duration (Days) | Main Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greece [3]/prospective observational cohort study | 13 March–3 May 2020 | hospitals, HCCs, laboratories | 3398 HCP exposed to SARS-CoV-2 |
41%; 74.8% post- HR exposure |
7 * | HR exposure associated with increased rate and duration of absenteeism |
| Ireland [28]/case series | first pandemic wave | 1 hospital | 456 HCP with COVID-19 | NS | NS | 203 HCP (44.5%) absent for several weeks |
| Spain [14]/cross-sectional study | March–April 2020 | 246 EDs of hospitals |
NS | >5% | NS | Physicians, nurses, other emergency staff: in sick leave 20%, 19%, and 16% of the time |
| UK [16]/retrospective cross-sectional survey | 16 March–26 April 2020 | 1 hospital | 328 physicians | 39% | 7 † | Sickness absence rate: 9.1% c/w 1.5% in January 2020; variations between departments |
| Turkey [23]/cross-sectional survey | 11 March 2020–11 March 2021 | 1 hospital | 3967 HCP | 24.7% | 13.5 † | Absenteeism rate: 1.4%; higher absenteeism: age >40 y.o., HR exposure, SARS-CoV-2 positivity |
| Brazil [24]/cross-sectional survey | 2019–2020 | primary HCCs | 977 primary HCP | 85.67% | 9.88 * | 64.79% of HCP absent in 2019 c/w 85.67% in 2020; more respiratory diseases in 2020 |
| Portugal [29]/epidemiological survey | 11 March–15 December 2020 | oncology hospital | 2300 HCP | 6.7% | 33 * before c/w 20 * after 14 October |
On 14 October new return-to-work strategy for HCP based on clinical and laboratory criteria |
| Spain [15]/epidemiological study | 6 March–5 April 2020 | LTCF | 190 employees | 24.6% | 19.2 * | Severe COVID-19 outbreak: 33.6% attack rate among 198 residents, 69 new employees, 276,281 Euros total cost (35.1% due to absenteeism and staff replacement) |
| UK [27]/observational study | 1 March–18 April 2020 | 1 hospital | NS | NS | NS | Incidence of HA-COVID-19 correlated with HCP absence due to COVID-19 |
| Brazil [30]/retrospective cohort study | 24 March–31 December 2020 | 1 hospital | NS | 199 cleaning staff with 689 medical certificates | 5.82 * | 44.2% with suspected/confirmed COVID-19; longer absence in suspected COVID-19 c/w other causes (mean 5.82 vs. 3.82 days) |
| Brazil [31]/cross-sectional survey | September 2014–December 2020 | 1 hospital | 1229 HCP | NS | NS | Mean sickness absenteeism was 5.10% during the COVID-19 pandemic c/w 2.97% pre-pandemic; ×2.03 increased sickness absence duration and ×2.49 increased daily cost during the pandemic |
| Iran [18]/cross-sectional survey | 19 February–21 September 2020 | 25 hospitals | 22,000 HCP | 8.9% | 16.44 * | Negative association between absenteeism with being a physician and work experience |
| Canada [22]/cross-sectional survey | 18 October 2021–27 January 2022 | Quebec healthcare sector | 1128 new-work HCP | NS | 18.08 * | Increased COVID-19-associated workload and fear of COVID-19 were indirectly associated with higher level of absenteeism |
| Brazil [26]/time-series analysis | March–August 2020 | 1 hospital | 429 asymptomatic HCP | 17.3% | NS | SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing of HCP was associated with reduced absenteeism; duration of absence increased by 473% in 2020 c/w 2019 |
| Greece [19]/prospective observational study | 4 January–18 April 2021 | 5 hospitals | 7445 HCP | 11.3% among unvaccinated c/w 4.7% among vaccinated HCP | 11.9 * in unvaccinated c/w 6.9 * in vaccinated | 66.42% vaccine effectiveness of 2 doses of Pfizer mRNA vaccine against absenteeism |
| Greece [25]/prospective observational study | 14 November 2021–17 April 2022 | 5 hospitals | 7592 HCP | 28.7% | 8.1 * in fully vaccinated c/w 9.7 * in non-fully vaccinated | Fully vaccinated had shorter absenteeism c/w with non-fully vaccinated (OR: 0.56); >17.1 weeks from last vaccine dose associated with longer absence |
| USA [20]/cross-sectional survey | February–April 2021 | 2 healthcare Systems | 2103 vaccinated HCP | 18.1% | 93% for 1–2 days | Generalized symptoms, being a nurse and Moderna vaccine recipient were associated with increased risk for work absence |
| Germany [32]/cross-sectional survey | 19 May–21 June 2021 | 89 hospitals | 8375 HCP | 23% | NS | Being a male, older age, and BNT162b vaccine recipient were associated with lower risk for work absence |
| Netherlands [21]/randomized trial | 24 March 2020 27 March 2021 |
9 hospitals | 1511 HCP exposed to COVID-19 patients | BCG group: 2.8% placebo: 2.7% | NS | BCG vaccine had no effect on absenteeism |
COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; HCP: healthcare personnel; Ref: reference; No: number; HCC: healthcare center; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; NS: not specified; ED: Emergency Department; UK: United Kingdom; c/w: compared with; LTCF: long-term care facility; HA: hospital-associated; vs: versus; OR: odds ratio; PCR: polymerase chain reaction. * Mean duration of absence, † Median duration of absence.