{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37526"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37526","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The burden and cost of sickness absenteeism amongst healthcare workers at a teaching hospital in South Africa. A cross-sectional study.","abstract":"A high burden of sickness-related absenteeism (SRA) amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) may impact health service delivery. The burden is known in high-income settings but not well evaluated in low and middle income (LMIC) settings and absent within a South African context. To determine the prevalence, associated medical conditions and cost of SRA amongst HCWs in a LMIC setting, we evaluated Human Resource (HR) absence records from a teaching hospital in South Africa over a 3 year period. Of the 3,543 HCW employed during the study period, 78% (n = 2,748) had at least 1 SRA episode. The overall SRA prevalence was 2.63%. The mean duration of absence was 2.25 days per episode and the mean frequency was 2.65 episodes per annum. Conditions of the musculoskeletal system (40.1%) were the most commonly reported, followed by acute infections of the upper respiratory tract (13.2%) and other respiratory conditions (6.2%). The total direct cost SRA was US$5,105,061.78 over the study period and the mean direct SRA cost per person was US$1,857.74 per episode. The results demonstrate a higher SRA burden compared with studies in similar settings and prompts further research into the causative factors and targeted risk mitigation strategies.","abstract_html":"A high burden of sickness-related absenteeism (SRA) amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) may impact health service delivery. The burden is known in high-income settings but not well evaluated in low and middle income (LMIC) settings and absent within a South African context. To determine the prevalence, associated medical conditions and cost of SRA amongst HCWs in a LMIC setting, we evaluated Human Resource (HR) absence records from a teaching hospital in South Africa over a 3 year period. Of the 3,543 HCW employed during the study period, 78% (n = 2,748) had at least 1 SRA episode. The overall SRA prevalence was 2.63%. The mean duration of absence was 2.25 days per episode and the mean frequency was 2.65 episodes per annum. Conditions of the musculoskeletal system (40.1%) were the most commonly reported, followed by acute infections of the upper respiratory tract (13.2%) and other respiratory conditions (6.2%). The total direct cost SRA was US$5,105,061.78 over the study period and the mean direct SRA cost per person was US$1,857.74 per episode. The results demonstrate a higher SRA burden compared with studies in similar settings and prompts further research into the causative factors and targeted risk mitigation strategies.","abstract_has_math":true,"creators":["Khan, Muhamed Adil"],"institution":"Department of Public Health and Family Medicine","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Adams, Shahieda","Cleary, Susan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022","date_published":"2022","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:07Z","subjects":["Public Health"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37526","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Adams, Shahieda","Cleary, Susan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Khan, Muhamed Adil"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-03-28T09:55:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-03-28T09:55:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2022"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Public Health and Family Medicine"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters","MPH"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Public Health"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37526"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A high burden of sickness-related absenteeism (SRA) amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) may impact health service delivery. The burden is known in high-income settings but not well evaluated in low and middle income (LMIC) settings and absent within a South African context. To determine the prevalence, associated medical conditions and cost of SRA amongst HCWs in a LMIC setting, we evaluated Human Resource (HR) absence records from a teaching hospital in South Africa over a 3 year period. Of the 3,543 HCW employed during the study period, 78% (n = 2,748) had at least 1 SRA episode. The overall SRA prevalence was 2.63%. The mean duration of absence was 2.25 days per episode and the mean frequency was 2.65 episodes per annum. Conditions of the musculoskeletal system (40.1%) were the most commonly reported, followed by acute infections of the upper respiratory tract (13.2%) and other respiratory conditions (6.2%). The total direct cost SRA was US$5,105,061.78 over the study period and the mean direct SRA cost per person was US$1,857.74 per episode. The results demonstrate a higher SRA burden compared with studies in similar settings and prompts further research into the causative factors and targeted risk mitigation strategies."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The burden and cost of sickness absenteeism amongst healthcare workers at a teaching hospital in South Africa. A cross-sectional study."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Adams, Shahieda","Cleary, Susan"],"dc:creator":["Khan, Muhamed Adil"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-03-28T09:55:36Z"],"dc:date.available":["2023-03-28T09:55:36Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022"],"dc:description.abstract":["A high burden of sickness-related absenteeism (SRA) amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) may impact health service delivery. The burden is known in high-income settings but not well evaluated in low and middle income (LMIC) settings and absent within a South African context. To determine the prevalence, associated medical conditions and cost of SRA amongst HCWs in a LMIC setting, we evaluated Human Resource (HR) absence records from a teaching hospital in South Africa over a 3 year period. Of the 3,543 HCW employed during the study period, 78% (n = 2,748) had at least 1 SRA episode. The overall SRA prevalence was 2.63%. The mean duration of absence was 2.25 days per episode and the mean frequency was 2.65 episodes per annum. Conditions of the musculoskeletal system (40.1%) were the most commonly reported, followed by acute infections of the upper respiratory tract (13.2%) and other respiratory conditions (6.2%). The total direct cost SRA was US$5,105,061.78 over the study period and the mean direct SRA cost per person was US$1,857.74 per episode. The results demonstrate a higher SRA burden compared with studies in similar settings and prompts further research into the causative factors and targeted risk mitigation strategies."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37526"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Public Health and Family Medicine"],"dc:subject":["Public Health"],"dc:title":["The burden and cost of sickness absenteeism amongst healthcare workers at a teaching hospital in South Africa. A cross-sectional study."],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters","MPH"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:07Z"}