Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sick leave among healthcare workers : a register-based observational study
(2023) In Occupational and Environmental Medicine 80(6). p.319-325- Abstract
Objectives To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sick leave among healthcare workers (HCWs) in primary and specialist care and examine its causes. Methods Using individual-level register data, we studied monthly proportions of sick leave (all-cause and not related to SARS-CoV-2 infection) from 2017 to February 2022 for all HCWs in primary (N=60 973) and specialist care (N=34 978) in Norway. First, we estimated the impact of the pandemic on sick leave, by comparing the sick leave rates during the pandemic to sick leave rates in 2017-2019. We then examined the impact of COVID-19-related workload on sick leave, by comparing HCWs working in healthcare facilities with different levels of COVID-19 patient loads. Results HCWs had... (More)
Objectives To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sick leave among healthcare workers (HCWs) in primary and specialist care and examine its causes. Methods Using individual-level register data, we studied monthly proportions of sick leave (all-cause and not related to SARS-CoV-2 infection) from 2017 to February 2022 for all HCWs in primary (N=60 973) and specialist care (N=34 978) in Norway. First, we estimated the impact of the pandemic on sick leave, by comparing the sick leave rates during the pandemic to sick leave rates in 2017-2019. We then examined the impact of COVID-19-related workload on sick leave, by comparing HCWs working in healthcare facilities with different levels of COVID-19 patient loads. Results HCWs had elevated monthly rates of all-cause sick leave during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2.8 (95% CI 2.67 to 2.9) and 2.2 (95% CI 2.07 to 2.35) percentage points in primary and specialist care. The corresponding increases for sick leave not related to SARS-CoV-2 infection were 1.2 (95% CI 1.29 to 1.05) and 0.7 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.78) percentage points. All-cause sick leave was higher in areas with high versus low COVID-19 workloads. However, after removing sick leave episodes due to SARS-CoV-2 infections, there was no difference. Conclusions There was a substantial increase in sick leave among HCWs during the pandemic. Our results suggest that the increase was due to HCWs becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and/or sector-wide effects, such as strict infection control measures. More differentiated countermeasures should, therefore, be evaluated to limit capacity constraints in healthcare provision.
(Less)
- author
- Reme, Bjørn Atle ; Grøsland, Mari ; Gjefsen, Hege and Magnusson, Karin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Occupational and Environmental Medicine
- volume
- 80
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 7 pages
- publisher
- BMJ Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85159562975
- pmid:37068949
- ISSN
- 1351-0711
- DOI
- 10.1136/oemed-2022-108555
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 8f4a5566-76d4-4da2-bd5c-e918eb281a5d
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-22 08:47:50
- date last changed
- 2024-06-16 08:55:16
@article{8f4a5566-76d4-4da2-bd5c-e918eb281a5d,
abstract = {{<p>Objectives To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sick leave among healthcare workers (HCWs) in primary and specialist care and examine its causes. Methods Using individual-level register data, we studied monthly proportions of sick leave (all-cause and not related to SARS-CoV-2 infection) from 2017 to February 2022 for all HCWs in primary (N=60 973) and specialist care (N=34 978) in Norway. First, we estimated the impact of the pandemic on sick leave, by comparing the sick leave rates during the pandemic to sick leave rates in 2017-2019. We then examined the impact of COVID-19-related workload on sick leave, by comparing HCWs working in healthcare facilities with different levels of COVID-19 patient loads. Results HCWs had elevated monthly rates of all-cause sick leave during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2.8 (95% CI 2.67 to 2.9) and 2.2 (95% CI 2.07 to 2.35) percentage points in primary and specialist care. The corresponding increases for sick leave not related to SARS-CoV-2 infection were 1.2 (95% CI 1.29 to 1.05) and 0.7 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.78) percentage points. All-cause sick leave was higher in areas with high versus low COVID-19 workloads. However, after removing sick leave episodes due to SARS-CoV-2 infections, there was no difference. Conclusions There was a substantial increase in sick leave among HCWs during the pandemic. Our results suggest that the increase was due to HCWs becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and/or sector-wide effects, such as strict infection control measures. More differentiated countermeasures should, therefore, be evaluated to limit capacity constraints in healthcare provision.</p>}},
author = {{Reme, Bjørn Atle and Grøsland, Mari and Gjefsen, Hege and Magnusson, Karin}},
issn = {{1351-0711}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{319--325}},
publisher = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
series = {{Occupational and Environmental Medicine}},
title = {{Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sick leave among healthcare workers : a register-based observational study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2022-108555}},
doi = {{10.1136/oemed-2022-108555}},
volume = {{80}},
year = {{2023}},
}