Sickness absenteeism among employees of a teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia

The sickness absence records of workers at the King Khalid University Hospital over a period of two years (1990-1991) were analysed to identify the category of workers at high risks. The records of each staff who went on 'sick-off' are available at the Employee Health Clinic of the hospital. There were 861 workers with sickness absence records during the period of study and 86% are expatriates on contract. The prevalence of sickness absence is higher among contract workers than non-contract workers about 16% and 9% respectively. The sex ratio was 1:2 in favour of females among contract employees but 1.2:1 in the male's favour for the Saudis. The observed sex differential in the rate of sickness absence in each occupational group is statistically significant (P < 0.01). Females have more spells of sickness than males and the duration of sickness absence is significantly higher in females. However, the average spell of sickness which is generally low is not different between contract and non-contract workers although slightly higher in the former. There was no significant occupational effect on the spells and duration of sickness absence. Respiratory infections and diseases of the digestive and musculoskeletal systems are the major diseases causing sickness absence. The implications of these findings are discussed in the paper. But for a good monitoring of sickness absence records, a health record surveillance card for each employee is recommended.