title: Sickness absence associated with shared and open-plan offices--a national cross sectional questionnaire survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to examine whether shared and open-plan offices are associated with more days of sickness absence than cellular offices.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analysis was based on a national survey of Danish inhabitants between 18-59 years of age (response rate 62%), and the study population consisted of the 2403 employees that reported working in offices. The different types of offices were characterized according to self-reported number of occupants in the space. The log-linear Poisson model was used to model the number of self-reported sickness absence days depending on the type of office; the analysis was adjusted for age, gender, socioeconomic status, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, and physical activity during leisure time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sickness absence was significantly related to having a greater number of occupants in the office (P<0.001) when adjusting for confounders. Compared to cellular offices, occupants in 2-person offices had 50% more days of sickness absence [rate ratio (RR) 1.50, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.13-1.98], occupants in 3-6-person offices had 36% more days of sickness absence (RR 1.36, 95% CI 1.08-1.73), and occupants in open-plan offices (>6 persons) had 62% more days of sickness absence (RR 1.62, 95% CI 1.30-2.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Occupants sharing an office and occupants in open-plan offices (>6 occupants) had significantly more days of sickness absence than occupants in cellular offices.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark. jhp@sfi.dk
authors.forename: Jan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Pejtersen
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feveile
authors.forename: Karl B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burr
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires