Time off sick and heart attack risks
January 21, 2005
A team of Finnish occupational health specialists has concluded from a study of British civil servants that men who never take time off sick, even if they are ill, are doubling their risk of having a heart attack.
The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, defines a phenomenon called "sickness presenteeism" where despite being sick, people take no time off work.
The study used information gathered about over 5000 male British civil servants to examine the association between sickness presenteeism and the incidence of serious coronary events.
Absence records were assessed for three years. The researchers said that 17% of unhealthy employees took no absence leave during the period studied, and their incidence of serious coronary events was twice as high as that of the unhealthy employees with moderate levels of sickness absenteeism.
The Finnish doctors said employers and employees should be aware of the potential harmful effects caused by sickness presenteeism.
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