Introduction: The aim was to describe the prevalence of sickness presenteeism (SP) and to explore possible associations with work characteristics among Swedish police officers.
Methods: Questionnaire data from 11,793 police officers were analysed. Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for SP were calculated with modified Poisson regression. SP was defined as having gone to work on two or more occasions during the past 12 months despite judging that one's health would have motivated sickness absence.
Results: Of the police officers, 47% reported SP. All studied work environment factors were significantly associated with SP. The strongest association was found for stress (RR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.41-1.52). Low support from colleagues and low control had higher impact on the risk estimates for SP among older subjects. Adjustment for self-rated health lowered the RRs, however, estimates remained statistically significant. The results indicated that SP was most affected by work environment among subjects with good self-rated health.
Conclusions: SP was high among police officers. Work environment factors seem to be associated with SP, particularly among subjects with good general health.