Sickness presenteeism among health care providers in an academic tertiary care center in Riyadh

Mohammed Al Nuhait; Khaled Al Harbi; Amjad Al Jarboa; Rami Bustami; Shmaylan Alharbi; Nazish Masud; Abdulkareem Albekairy; Hind Almodaimegh

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2016.09.019

Sickness presenteeism among health care providers in an academic tertiary care center in Riyadh

J Infect Public Health. 2017 Nov-Dec;10(6):711-715. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2016.09.019. Epub 2017 Mar 24.

Authors

Mohammed Al Nuhait¹, Khaled Al Harbi², Amjad Al Jarboa², Rami Bustami², Shmaylan Alharbi³, Nazish Masud⁴, Abdulkareem Albekairy³, Hind Almodaimegh³

Affiliations

¹ College of Pharmacy, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Pharmaceutical Care Services, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: alnuhaitmo@ngha.med.sa.
² College of Pharmacy, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ College of Pharmacy, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Pharmaceutical Care Services, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 28343794
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2016.09.019

Abstract

The term sickness presenteeism (SP) has been described as the act of going to work despite having a state of health that may be regarded as poor enough to justify sick leave. SP has been observed to be prevalent among three-quarters of health care providers (HCPs). Working while sick not only puts patients at risk but also decreases productivity and increases the probability of medical errors. Moreover, SP has been identified as a risk factor for many negative health outcomes among the HCPs themselves, such as depression, burnout, and serious cardiac events. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons for and prevalence of SP and perceptions of the impact of this practice on patient safety among HCPs. A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 279 purposively selected healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and other health care professionals) working at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs-King Abdulaziz Medical City (MNGHA-KAMC). While nearly all of the participants (91%) believed that working while sick exposed patients to risk, the rate of SP during the past year was reported as 74%, and one fourth of respondents reported working while sick 3-4 times during the past year. More than half of the participants were not aware of the existence of a departmental policy regarding sick leave. The most common reasons reported for working while sick were not wanting to burden co-workers (71%), feelings of duty toward patients (67%), and avoiding an increased future workload caused by absence (59%). A lack of awareness regarding the existing rules and polices related to sick leave was reported by more than half of the participants. Several predisposing and enabling factors were reported as determinants influencing SP, e.g., observation of the practice of SP by peers and feelings of sympathy towards coworkers, including not wanting to overburden them, were reported to be determinants informing the decision of whether to work while sick.

Keywords: Health care provider health; Sickness presenteeism; Working while sick.

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Personnel*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Presenteeism*
Saudi Arabia
Tertiary Care Centers*
Young Adult