Factors Associated With Sickness Presenteeism Among Healthcare Workers in Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
Abstract
Background: Sickness presenteeism is the state of reporting to workplace in spite of ill-health
thus resulting in reduced on-the-job-effectiveness and work productivity impairment. This
study intended to establish the factors associated with sickness presenteeism among healthcare
workers at Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya.
Method: The study employed analytical cross-sectional study design. Data were collected
from a sample of 373 participants using interviewer-administered questionnaires in the month
of April to June 2021. Data were entered into Excel spreadsheet, cleaned, coded and transferred
to STATA version 11.2 for descriptive and inferential analyses. Data were analysed and
presented in frequencies tables. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted and
results summarized in tables.
Results: The mean age of respondents was 41.15 years (41.15 ± 8.854) and mean body mass
index (BMI) was 28.8 ± 4.3. Respondents who experienced sickness presenteeism were 8.5%
of study participants and one in every ten respondents experienced sickness presence either in
the form of extreme movement limitation or moderate movement limitation (89.7%) at
workplace. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine if
sociodemographic factors, body mass index, lifestyle factors and medical factors had any
significant effect as potential predictors of sickness presence among healthcare workers. The
results of the analyses showed that, among all factors considered in the study, respondents’ age
[OR: 13.7, 95% CI (1.04 - 180.2) P < 0.046] and medical conditions such as hypertension
(OR=1.1226; p = 0.049; CI = 1.04 – 1.43), type II diabetes (OR=1.402; p = 0.05; CI = 1.15 –
1.74) and heart disease (OR=1.506; p = 0.05; CI = 1.11 – 2.03) were the only factors that were
significantly associated with sickness presenteeism among respondents. However, medical
conditions including calcaneous spur, disc dehydration and certain types of cancer were found
to be not significantly associated with sickness presence among respondents.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
Based on the results, healthcare managers and policy makers should introduce health education
and promotion programmes at work places that promote early detection of medical conditions
associated with sickness presenteeism including health screening. Further, formulation and
enforcement of administrative policies on comprehensive provision of medical care, retention
of adequate staff, self-reporting and change of lifestyle to prevent and control sickness presence
should be pursued by key policy makers. Further studies were recommended across several
health facilities and use of administrative data to measure sickness presence among healthcare
workers
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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