Sickness absence during the COVID-19 pandemic

Kobuszewski Bartosz. Sickness absence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2021;11(11):11-24. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.11.001

https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/JEHS.2021.11.11.001

https://zenodo.org/record/5651069

The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. § 8. 2) and § 12. 1. 2) 22.02.2019.

© The Authors 2021;

This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland

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Received: 25.10.2021. Revised: 25.10.2021. Accepted: 06.11.2021.

Sickness absence during the COVID-19 pandemic

Absencja chorobowa w dobie pandemii COVID-19

Bartosz Kobuszewski

bkobuszewski@cmkp.edu.pl

ORCID iD https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5828-1341

Department of Medical Law and Decisions, School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland

Zakład Prawa Medycznego i Orzecznictwa Lekarskiego, Szkoła Zdrowia Publicznego, Centrum Medyczne Kształcenia Podyplomowego, Warszawa, Polska

Abstract

The aim of this research was to perform a comparative analysis of the publicly available data of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) on sickness absence of insured persons in Poland in 2016-2021 (before the outbreak and during the COVID-19 pandemic).

Materials and methods. The research material consisted of data from the Social Insurance Institution for the years 2016-2021 (Q1) concerning the sickness absence of the insured. Due to the publication of data in an aggregated form, quantitative analysis was performed instead of statistical analysis. The data used in the analysis included the number of insured persons, the number of people receiving sickness benefits, the number of issued medical certificates on temporary incapacity to work and the reasons for the incapacity to work.

Results and Conclusion. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, following numbers have increased compared to 2019: the number of people receiving sickness benefit in Poland (by 10%), the number of days of sickness absence (by 7%) and the number of issued medical certificates of temporary incapacity for work (by 4%). The largest increase in the number of beneficiaries, the number of days of sickness absence and the number of medical certificates was recorded in the Q4 of 2020 (respectively by 21%, 16% and 24% compared to Q4 of 2019). Due to COVID-19, 4.84 million days of sickness absence were used in 2020 – it was the tenth cause of absence.

The largest changes in the number of people receiving sickness benefit and the number of days of sickness absence can be observed in Q1 and Q4, which may result from the seasonality of COVID-19 and the subsequent wave of infections. Importantly, COVID-19 is not the only factor contributing overall increase in the number of days of sickness absence in Poland – absence due to non-communicable diseases also increased during the pandemic.

Key words: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, sickness absence, sick leave