BACKGROUND Sickness absence is a growing public health problem in Norway and Denmark, with the highest absence rates being registered in Norway. We compared time trends in sickness absence patterns of municipal employees in the health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark. METHODS Data from 2004 to 2008 were extracted from the personnel registers of the municipalities of Kristiansand, Norway...

AIMS The authors sought to estimate differences in doctor-certified sickness absence during pregnancy among immigrant and native women. METHODS Population-based cohort study of pregnant women attending three Child Health Clinics in Groruddalen, Oslo, and their offspring. Questionnaire data were collected at gestational weeks 10-20 and 28. The participation rate was 74%. A multivariate Poisson...

We utilize a large-scale randomized social experiment to identify how coworkers affect each other’s effort as measured by work absence. The experiment altered the work absence incentives for half of all employees living in Göteborg, Sweden. Using administrative data we are able to recover the treatment status of all workers in more than 3,000 workplaces. We first document that employees in work...

Sickness absence rates are higher in winter than in summer and also the incidence of many diseases is affected by climatic conditions. Both these facts lead one to suspect that there is a genuine causative relationship between the weather and sickness absence. The object of this investigation is to develop a model to illustrate this relationship in order to obtain some idea of its precise form....

Structural defects of the posterior arch of the atlas are rare, and range from clefts of variable location and size to more extensive defects such as complete agenesis. These abnormalities are usually incidental radiological findings. We present a case of a fracture of the anterior arch of the atlas associated with a congenital abnormality of the posterior arch.

This paper is based on the records of 738 male teachers and 1,684 female teachers employed by Edinburgh Corporation during the academic year September 1, 1954 to July 31, 1955. The amount and distribution of sickness absence has been assessed by age and sex; and comparisons have been made with similar rates in the academic year 1950/51 to determine trends in absence. An interesting feature is t...

We hypothesized that being promoted to a supervisory position leads to a reduction in subsequent absence spells and time lost in absences, and that the higher the supervisory level, the more pronounced its negative effect on subsequent absence behaviour. We tested our hypotheses by analysing the government records of 51,974 school teachers in the years 2000 and 2001. Controlling for potential c...

OBJECTIVE To produce practical evidence-based guidelines for the management of paediatric epilepsy in secondary care settings. DESIGN Question-specific systematic literature review and local service audit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Grade of recommendation for specific management issues. RESULTS There is little good quality research to support many existing epilepsy guidelines for secondary ca...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine the relation between sickness presenteeism and different types of future sickness absence in 2,983 Belgian middle-aged workers. METHODS Data were collected from 1,372 male and 1,611 female workers. Presenteeism was assessed by a single question, evaluating the frequency of occasions of going at work, despite illness, during the preceding year. P...

This descriptive analysis is an examination of the extent to which a veteran's mental health diagnosis or the initial criminal charge committed before program enrollment relate to a greater propensity for sanctions, harsher sanctions, higher rates of relapse on substances, or overall program compliance. This is a retrospective descriptive analysis that focuses on those participants in the Harri...