Affiliations: Department of Public Health and Community Medicine,
Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Lotta Dellve, RN, MScPH, PhD,
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy,
Göteborg University, Box 414, S-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. Tel.: +46 31
7863158; Fax: +46 31 409728; E-mail: lotta.dellve@amm.gu.se
Abstract: Terms and theories of work attendance vary according to their use
and focus. This paper analyzes long-term work attendance in relation to social,
psychosocial, and health-related factors. Register-based and
questionnaire-based data covering 3,804 human service organisation workers over
a three-year period were analyzed at individual and work-unit level. The
results showed positive relationships between work attendance and male gender,
high income, work commitment, job satisfaction, and having positive feelings
towards work. High work attendance combined with work commitment, stress, or
pain did not show any negative long-term effects upon short-term or long-term
sick leave. Instead, work attendance seemed to be more associated with stable
patterns of behaviour. Register-based measures of work attendance (at most 4–7
days of sick leave per worker per year) may be a useful tool in managing
psychosocial work environment and related behaviour, but their inability to
encompass information regarding individual health and disease must be borne in
mind.
Keywords: Sick leave, work ability, sickness presenteeism, work performance, management
