A stochastic model for industrial illness absenteeism.

Glasser, Jay H.

doi:10.2105/ajph.60.10.1936

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…In one case the latter exceeded the former and in the other was less than it, contrary to the experience of Arbous and Sichel (1954) and Glasser (1970) that life does not live up to expectations. A two-year period may not have been enough to reveal the dilution of time in the face of an assumed constant personal liability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…The observed distribution of frequency of certified absence among groups which differed widely in occupation and in nature and amount of absence fitted the same theoretical distribution more or less closely, though the varied form of the curve suggested different patterns of liability in the various groups (Glasser, 1970). The interpretation, other than that of proneness, which can be put upon the fitting of the distribution to biological data has already been referred to.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…The past record seems to be the best predictor of absence, whether certified absence (Hinkle et al, 1961;Taylor, 1968a) or absenteeism (Glasser, 1970), of consultation in general practice (Froggatt et al, 1969), and of neurosis (Fraser, 1947). However, the predictability of a person's liability to absence from his past record may be to some extent only of academic interest, as suggested by Froggatt (1970b), because the absence pattern is likely to remain consistent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arbous and Sichel (1954) fitted the distribution to 'absences which occur (for various reasons) to individuals', and Sichel (1951) to absences classed as 'absent without permission' in the same population. Glasser (1970) incorporated a seasonal factor in similarly characterizing 'illness absenteeism' without specifying type of absence. Froggatt (1970b) alone has studied short-term absence in this way.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The heterogeneous nature of liability to accident or absence in any industrial population occurs irrespective of occupation (Taylor, 1967), though the form of the curve varies with age and occupational subgroup (Glasser, 1970). Liability is postulated to be relatively invariant in any one individual in a stable environment but need only represent the nett effect of many factors, not each constant for the individual but having an overall constant effect.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Some characteristics of repeated sickness absence

Ferguson¹

1972

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

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Ferguson, D. (1972). Brit. J. industr. Med., 29, 420-431. Some characteristics ofrepeated sickness absence. Several studies have shown that frequency of absence attributed to sickness is not distributed randomly but tends to follow the negative binomial distribution, and this has been taken to support the concept of 'proneness' to such absence. Thus, the distribution of sickness absence resembles that of minor injury at work demonstrated over 50 years ago. Because the investigation of proneness to absence does not appear to have been reported by others in Australia, the opportunity was taken, during a wider study of health among telegraphists in a large communications undertaking, to analyse some characteristics of repeated sickness absence.The records of medically certified and uncertified sickness absence of all 769 telegraphists continuously employed in all State capitals over a two-and-a-half-year period were compared with those of 411 clerks and 415 mechanics and, in Sydney, 380 mail sorters and 80 of their supervisors. All telegraphists in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and all mail sorters in Sydney, who were available and willing were later medically examined. From their absence pattern repeaters (employees who had had eight or more certified absences in two and a half years) were separated into three types based on a presumptive origin in chance, recurrent disease and symptomatic non-specific disorder.The observed distributionof individual frequencyof certified absence overthefull two-and-ahalf-year period of study followed that expected from the univariate negative binomial, using maximum likelihood estimators, rather than the Poisson distribution, in three of the four occupational groups in Sydney. Limited correlational and bivariate analysis supported the interpretation of proneness ascribed to the univariate fit. In the two groups studied, frequency of uncertified absence could not be fitted by the negative binomial, although the numbers of such absences in individuals in successive years were relatively highly correlated.All types of repeater were commoner in Sydney than in the other capital city offices, which differed little from each other. Repeaters were more common among those whose absence was attributed to neurosis, alimentary and upper respiratory tract disorder, and injury. Out of more than 90 health, personal, social, and industrial attributes determined at examination, only two (ethanol habit and adverse attitude to pay) showed any statistically significant association when telegraphist repeaters in Sydney were compared with employees who were rarely absent. Though repeating tended to be associated with chronic or recurrent ill health revealed at examination, one quarter of repeaters had little such ill health and one quarter of rarely absent employees had much.It was concluded that, in the population studied, the fitting of the negative binomial to frequency of certified sickness absence could, in the circumstances of the study, reasonably be given an interpretation of proneness. In t...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Some characteristics of repeated sickness absence

Ferguson¹

1972

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

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Health services, health status, and work loss

Robertson¹

1976

J Community Health

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The numbers of workdays lost because of illness, coupled with records of health service utilization patterns, were studied to establish possible links between health status and different forms of prepayment coverage. The records of industrial workers at four branches of the same company were analyzed. Records of employees with broad-benefit coverage were compared with those who had less-comprehensive indemnity coverage. A free choice of providers was available to the study population. Data for workers covered by the broader plans revealed fewer medical admissions to hospitals, more surgical admissions, and more outpatient physician visits. As hypothesized, their number of days absent from work were lower. Because few of these results were statistically significant, caution is necessary in their interpretation. Some aspects of the project warranting further consideration are discussed. Data suggest a positive correlation between breadth of health plan coverage and health status, with possible economic benefits to be derived from such coverage. The data also indicate the desirability of additional investigations to be based on employers' and health plan records, that involve other types of populations and other benefit options.

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Frequency and Duration of Absence from Work as Functions of Work Force Characteristics

Charante

Mulder

1997

Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine

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The processes of sick-leave inception and work resumption are governed by many interrelated factors. Hence conventional univariate models of these processes do not provide an adequate basis for explanation and prediction. In this study, multivariate models were used to fit absenteeism data for a large government department. The variables considered were the age, sex, and grade of the employees concerned; the day, month, and year of inception of sick leave or resumption of work; the section in which the employees worked and the size of that section. The models were used to predict the rates of sick-leave inception and work resumption in a test set of employees. The predicted inception rates appear to agree well with the observed values.

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A stochastic model for industrial illness absenteeism.

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

Some characteristics of repeated sickness absence

Some characteristics of repeated sickness absence

Health services, health status, and work loss

Frequency and Duration of Absence from Work as Functions of Work Force Characteristics

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