[Analysis of short-term time off of health workers in a health area].

Objective: To describe the characteristics of short-term time off work (STT): duration, causes and distribution by age, and sex.

Design: Descriptive, observational study.

Setting: Area 1, Madrid, Spain.

Participants: Health workers with STT in Area 1, Madrid, during the first 6 months of 2003.

Main Measurements: The variables studied were: date of start and finish of STT, its duration, its cause (ICD-9), age, and sex.

Results: Four-hundred eighteen health workers (3.7%), with a mean age of 32.7+/-20 years old and 78.79% women. Respiratory pathology was the most frequent cause of STT (38%) in both sexes and in all age-groups, except in the youngest (<25), in whom bone and muscle pathology was more common. In decreasing order of frequency appeared bone and muscle pathology (26%), infections (13%), and mental illness (10%). The average duration of STT was 38.8+/-88.7 days. There was a statistically significant relationship between the duration of STT and its cause. Respiratory pathology was the shortest (8.85; 95% CI, 6.54-11.17) and mental illness, the longest (153.8; 95% CI, 87-220.75). The age group with most STT (37-45 years old) had a mean length of STT lower (26.93; 95% CI, 16.34-37.51) than the oldest age group (>56), which had less, but longer-lasting STT (57.18; 95% CI, 10.74-103.63), though this was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The pathology causing STT is the factor that most determines STT's duration. Its prevention would be the best way of managing STT.