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