Skip to main content
PMC home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 2004 Jan;61(1):45–51.

Work factors as predictors of sickness absence attributed to airway infections; a three month prospective study of nurses' aides

W Eriksen 1, D Bruusgaard 1, S Knardahl 1
PMCID: PMC1757808  PMID: 14691272

Abstract

Aims: To identify the work factors that are related to sickness absence attributed to airway infections (AAI) in nurses' aides.

Methods: The sample comprised 5563 Norwegian nurses' aides, not on sick leave when they completed a mailed questionnaire in 1999. Of these, 4931 (88.6%) completed a second questionnaire three months later. The outcome measure was the three month incidence proportion of certified AAI (>3 days), assessed by self reports at follow up.

Results: Working in a paediatric ward (odds ratio (OR) 2.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39 to 4.21), perceived lack of encouraging and supportive culture in the work unit (OR 1.78; 95% CI 1.21 to 2.61), and reporting medium (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.09 to 2.12), and high levels (OR 1.60; 95% CI 1.13 to 2.26) of role conflicts at work were associated with an increased risk of AAI, after adjustments for baseline health complaints, demographic and familial factors, smoking, and a series of physical, psychological, and organisational work factors. The individual level factors male gender, smoking 10 cigarettes per day or more, having widespread pain, having had an accident related neck injury, and having long term health problems also predicted AAI.

Conclusions: In nurses' aides, sickness absence attributed to airway infections seems to be related to the type of ward in which the aides are working, and to psychological and social work factors. Declaring airway infections as occupational diseases would have important consequences for the social security system.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (183.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alexopoulos E. C., Burdorf A. Prognostic factors for respiratory sickness absence and return to work among blue collar workers and office personnel. Occup Environ Med. 2001 Apr;58(4):246–252. doi: 10.1136/oem.58.4.246. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ballow Mark. Primary immunodeficiency disorders: antibody deficiency. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2002 Apr;109(4):581–591. doi: 10.1067/mai.2002.122466. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bourbonnais R., Mondor M. Job strain and sickness absence among nurses in the province of Québec. Am J Ind Med. 2001 Feb;39(2):194–202. doi: 10.1002/1097-0274(200102)39:2<194::aid-ajim1006>3.0.co;2-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bourbonnais R., Vinet A., Meyer F., Goldberg M. Certified sick leave and work load. A case referent study among nurses. J Occup Med. 1992 Jan;34(1):69–74. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bourbonnais R., Vinet A., Vézina M., Gingras S. Certified sick leave as a non-specific morbidity indicator: a case-referent study among nurses. Br J Ind Med. 1992 Oct;49(10):673–678. doi: 10.1136/oem.49.10.673. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Burdorf A., Post W., Bruggeling T. Reliability of a questionnaire on sickness absence with specific attention to absence due to back pain and respiratory complaints. Occup Environ Med. 1996 Jan;53(1):58–62. doi: 10.1136/oem.53.1.58. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Burdorf A. Reducing random measurement error in assessing postural load on the back in epidemiologic surveys. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1995 Feb;21(1):15–23. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Bush R., Wooden M. Smoking and absence from work: Australian evidence. Soc Sci Med. 1995 Aug;41(3):437–446. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(94)00350-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. CROWNE D. P., MARLOWE D. A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. J Consult Psychol. 1960 Aug;24:349–354. doi: 10.1037/h0047358. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Eriksen Willy, Bruusgaard Dag. Physical leisure-time activities and long-term sick leave: a 15-month prospective study of nurses' aides. J Occup Environ Med. 2002 Jun;44(6):530–538. doi: 10.1097/00043764-200206000-00014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fredriksson K., Toomingas A., Torgén M., Thorbjörnsson C. B., Kilbom A. Validity and reliability of self-reported retrospectively collected data on sick leave related to musculoskeletal diseases. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1998 Oct;24(5):425–431. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hammond G. W., Cheang M. Absenteeism among hospital staff during an influenza epidemic: implications for immunoprophylaxis. Can Med Assoc J. 1984 Sep 1;131(5):449–452. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Heaney C. A., Clemans J. Occupational stress, physician-excused absences, and absences not excused by a physician. Am J Health Promot. 1995 Nov-Dec;10(2):117–124. doi: 10.4278/0890-1171-10.2.117. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hensing G., Alexanderson K., Akerlind I., Bjurulf P. Sick-leave due to minor psychiatric morbidity: role of sex integration. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1995 Jan;30(1):39–43. doi: 10.1007/BF00784433. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Izurieta H. S., Thompson W. W., Kramarz P., Shay D. K., Davis R. L., DeStefano F., Black S., Shinefield H., Fukuda K. Influenza and the rates of hospitalization for respiratory disease among infants and young children. N Engl J Med. 2000 Jan 27;342(4):232–239. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200001273420402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kraus J. F., Gardner L., Collins J., Sorock G., Volinn E. Design factors in epidemiologic cohort studies of work-related low back injury or pain. Am J Ind Med. 1997 Aug;32(2):153–163. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199708)32:2<153::aid-ajim6>3.0.co;2-#. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Krause N., Ragland D. R., Fisher J. M., Syme S. L. Psychosocial job factors, physical workload, and incidence of work-related spinal injury: a 5-year prospective study of urban transit operators. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1998 Dec 1;23(23):2507–2516. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199812010-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Linnemann C. C., Jr, Ramundo N., Perlstein P. H., Minton S. D., Englender G. S. Use of pertussis vaccine in an epidemic involving hospital staff. Lancet. 1975 Sep 20;2(7934):540–543. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)90907-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Luz J., Green M. S. Sickness absenteeism from work--a critical review of the literature. Public Health Rev. 1997;25(2):89–122. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Macartney K. K., Gorelick M. H., Manning M. L., Hodinka R. L., Bell L. M. Nosocomial respiratory syncytial virus infections: the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit of infection control. Pediatrics. 2000 Sep;106(3):520–526. doi: 10.1542/peds.106.3.520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Nathell L., Malmberg P., Lundbäck B., Nygren A. Impact of occupation on respiratory disease. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2000 Oct;26(5):382–389. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.558. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Natvig B., Rutle O., Bruusgaard D., Eriksen W. B. The association between functional status and the number of areas in the body with musculoskeletal symptoms. Int J Rehabil Res. 2000 Mar;23(1):49–53. doi: 10.1097/00004356-200023010-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. North F. M., Syme S. L., Feeney A., Shipley M., Marmot M. Psychosocial work environment and sickness absence among British civil servants: the Whitehall II study. Am J Public Health. 1996 Mar;86(3):332–340. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.3.332. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Severens J. L., Mulder J., Laheij R. J., Verbeek A. L. Precision and accuracy in measuring absence from work as a basis for calculating productivity costs in The Netherlands. Soc Sci Med. 2000 Jul;51(2):243–249. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00452-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Smedley J., Egger P., Cooper C., Coggon D. Manual handling activities and risk of low back pain in nurses. Occup Environ Med. 1995 Mar;52(3):160–163. doi: 10.1136/oem.52.3.160. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Smedley J., Egger P., Cooper C., Coggon D. Prospective cohort study of predictors of incident low back pain in nurses. BMJ. 1997 Apr 26;314(7089):1225–1228. doi: 10.1136/bmj.314.7089.1225. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Spector P. E., Jex S. M. Relations of job characteristics from multiple data sources with employee affect, absence, turnover intentions, and health. J Appl Psychol. 1991 Feb;76(1):46–53. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.76.1.46. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Stansfeld S. A., Rael E. G., Head J., Shipley M., Marmot M. Social support and psychiatric sickness absence: a prospective study of British civil servants. Psychol Med. 1997 Jan;27(1):35–48. doi: 10.1017/s0033291796004254. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Takkouche B., Regueira C., Gestal-Otero J. J. A cohort study of stress and the common cold. Epidemiology. 2001 May;12(3):345–349. doi: 10.1097/00001648-200105000-00015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Tellnes G., Svendsen K. O., Bruusgaard D., Bjerkedal T. Incidence of sickness certification. Proposal for use as a health status indicator. Scand J Prim Health Care. 1989 Jun;7(2):111–117. doi: 10.3109/02813438909088657. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Viikari-Juntura E., Rauas S., Martikainen R., Kuosma E., Riihimäki H., Takala E. P., Saarenmaa K. Validity of self-reported physical work load in epidemiologic studies on musculoskeletal disorders. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1996 Aug;22(4):251–259. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.139. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Weingarten M. A., Hart J. Sick leave certification in general practice. Aust Fam Physician. 1984 Sep;13(9):702-3, 710-11. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES