[Jogging is accompanied by low absenteeism (the Berne runner study '84)]

4358 male runners over age 16, competitors of the 16 km race 'Grand-prix of Berne' 1984, represent the study population of a cross-sectional survey. As a part of it, relationships between jogging and absenteeism were investigated. 16 km running time was positively associated with the number of missed work days (p less than 0.001); training activity (kilometers run per week, one-year's average) and absenteeism were related in an inverse way, but only up to a training distance of not more than 50 km/wk. Runners who smoked cigarettes missed over 50% more work days than nonsmokers (p less than 0.001). The relative importance of the motive for jogging 'as a balance to work' was associated with decreased absenteeism (p less than 0.001), whereas relative importance of competition-orientated motives was associated with increased absenteeism (p less than 0.001). A multiple regression analysis involving 8 factors was not able to explain more than 11% of the observed variance in missed work days, which underlines the complexity of this dependent variable. The question concerning a possible causal relationship between active, regular, moderate jogging and reduced absenteeism remains unanswered.