Work absences among hospital cleaning staff during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Introduction: Absenteeism justified by sick leaves are valuable indicators of workers' health conditions.

Objectives: To analyze hospital cleaning staff sick leaves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included employees who presented a medical sick leave certificate justifying at least 1 missed day of work during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from March 24 to December 31, 2020 at a teaching hospital.

Results: A total of 199 workers who presented 689 medical certificates were included in the sample. The sample was 88.4% women. The mean ages for suspected COVID-19 cases and all other cases were 39.7 years and 40.9 years, respectively. Suspected COVID-19 cases involved longer leaves (mean 5.82 [SD, 3.35] days missed) and more medical sick leave certificates (mean 4.25 [SD, 3.13] certificates per worker) than other causes. Among suspected cases, 32.1% worked in critical areas of the hospital. Of the 83 RT-PCR tests performed, 24.1% were positive, with 80% of these employees working in semi-critical or administrative areas; 15% of workers who tested positive developed the severe form of the disease.

Conclusions: Among workers who underwent RT-PCR testing, the rate of positive results was low. Most positive cases occurred in younger women who worked in non-critical units (ie, units involving no direct patient contact or without aerosol-generating procedures). The mean number of missed days was higher among suspected COVID-19 cases (7.85 days [SD, 4.05]). The use of individual protective equipment was common among these employees, and they were continuously trained.