title: [Repeat sick leave procedures and diagnosis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find out the recurrence of absence due to sick leave from the perspective of diagnosing the disease-causing absenteeism.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  workers who only had only been on sick leave once.
  
  
  METHODS
  workers with repeated sick leave. CASES with 2, 3, 4 or more absences due to sick leave were analysed separately.
  
  
  METHODS
  Guipuzcoa, from 2001 to 2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 7,313 sick leave procedures collected from a Mutual Company with the medical reason, age and gender were duly registered and coded. Of the 6,030 workers who took some time off work, 5,016 had a single sick leave procedure, and were considered as controls and there were 1,014 cases that had two or more sick leave procedures.
  
  
  METHODS
  We calculated the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for age and stratified by gender, using a logistic regression model. The slope of sick leave repeats was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An increase in the risk of recurrent sick leave was observed for both genders over the age of 45, with a significant slope. There was an increase in the risk of recurrent sick leave in the most common diseases, musculoskeletal, external causes, mental and gastrointestinal in males, and pregnancy, musculoskeletal, mental and external causes in females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An alternative method for verifying the correct prescribing of sick leave would be to just study diseases that occur most often. This would focus on those workers who had recurrent absences due to sick leave.
authors: Inspección Médica de Donostia-San Sebastián, Departamento de Sanidad, Gobierno Vasco, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España. jaurrekoetxea@ej-gv.es
authors: Juan José
authors: JJ
authors: Aurrekoetxea Agirre
authors: Juan Manuel
authors: JM
authors: Sanzo Ollakarizketa
authors: Eskame
authors: E
authors: Zubero Oleagoitia
authors: Enrique
authors: E
authors: Alamillo Gascón
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*