Descriptive study of sickness absence in Spanish regions in 2018: database study

Abstract

ObjectivesTo provide a wide and thorough description of sickness absence (SA) in Spain, focussing on the different regions of the country and the main characteristics of SA.MethodsA study of the SA spells in Spain, managed by the medical units of the National Institute of Social Security in 2018. The geographical scope of this observational study is the regions (Autonomous Community). Incidence, prevalence, and average duration SA in employees and self-employed are described. The study also describes the differences between non-work-related SA and work-related SA. In age and sex variables, the incidence and the average duration are described. The average duration by Diagnostic Chapters (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10)) and the highest number of SA spells by occupational activity and diagnosis are analysed.ResultsA total of 540 045 SA spells are analysed by non-work-related SA and 63 441 by work-related SA. The national average prevalence in non-work-related SA spells is 32.98/1000 among employed and 30.48/1000 among self-employed; in work-related SA spells, the prevalence is 3.99/1000. The national incidence in non-work-related SA spells is 24.8/1000 for employees and 9.51/1000 for self-employed workers; in work-related SA spells the incidence is 3.55/1000. The average duration is 58.67 days, with the longest duration being neoplasms and the shortest corresponding to infectious disease. The Community of Madrid shows the lowest prevalence, incidence and average duration in work-related SA. Influenza is the diagnosis that generates the largest number of SA spells. Activities of call centres and temporary employment agency activities are the occupations that have the highest number of SA spells.ConclusionsThe biggest differences are found in the incidence and average duration, between the non-work-related SA spells and work-related SA. If those characteristics of the SA in which a region is more in deficit are known, it will be possible to do better management of the SA.

Occupation and Sickness Absence in the Different Autonomous Communities of Spain

“…The highest average duration is found in Galicia, Extremadura and Castile and Leon. These three Autonomous Communities have an older population, with a higher percentage of self-employed workers and most of their workers are agricultural workers with precarious jobs, which means that sick leave is longer, in line with other studies [ 4 , 26 , 27 ].…”

“…Their mean SA duration, by AC and age range, is much shorter than that of other occupational groups, and this group shows the shortest mean durations in people over 65 years of age with respect to other age ranges. The shorter duration in this group could be due to the fact that, in many cases, these are precarious, temporary, half-time jobs performed by workers with little qualification, generally with low economic resources, who fear being fired if they extend their SA without justification [ 4 , 27 ].…”

“…Like most European countries, Spain’s public sickness insurance spending is a major component of its social security system. The total financial cost of SA in consolidated Social Security budgets for 2019 in Spain reached 11,554,711.16 €, which is 8.89% of the general Social Security budget [ 4 ]. Besides, the importance of SA caused by disease or accident is not only determined by the social and financial costs that each State dedicates to it, but also by the resources that employers assign to it, as well as the productivity losses and the deterioration of these workers’ health.…”

“…A descriptive study of SA was conducted in Spain in 2018, and also by Autonomous Community (AC), although SA was not analysed as a function of the worker’s occupation [ 4 ]. The authors concluded that further research was necessary due to the differences found in SA in the different ACs regarding age, gender, whether the worker was employed or self-employed, the cause of the sick leave (work-related or non-work-related SA) and the relationship with the activity in the company.…”

Labour market participation after sickness absence due to cancer: a dynamic cohort study in Catalonia (Spain)

“…Currently, most cancer survivors take a sickness absence (SA) during their treatment to overcome the acute stage of the disease [ 5 ] with the intention of returning to work when treatment ends. SA due to cancer tends to be longer than SA due to other diagnoses [ 6 ]. After the treatment stage, some cancer survivors face adverse effects that can persist for prolonged periods or become chronic due to the treatment or the severity of the disease itself [ 7 ].…”