Sickness absence among privately employed white-collar workers during the COVID-19 pandemic; a prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it several changes, both regarding infection with COVID-19 itself as well as measures to combat the spread of infection, that might have affected sickness absence (SA) patterns. The aim was to explore whether incidence and length of SA changed between 2019, 2020, and 2021, as well as to determine factors associated with SA due to COVID-19 or COVID-like diagnoses among privately employed white-collar workers.

Methods

A cohort of all privately employed white-collar workers in 2018 in Sweden (n = 1 347 778; 47% women) was followed prospectively during 2019, 2020, and 2021 using linked nationwide register data. We calculated numbers and proportions of people with incident SA (in SA spells > 14 days) due to COVID-19, COVID-like diagno

SUBMITTER: Farrants K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11812151 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature