title: Cross-national comparisons of sickness absence systems and statistics: towards common indicators.
abstract: We aimed to identify common elements in work sickness absence (SA) in Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands. We estimated basic statistics on benefits eligibility, SA incidence and duration and distribution by major diagnostics. The three countries offer SA benefits for at least 12 months and wage replacement, differing in who and when the payer assumes responsibility; the national health systems provide health care with participation from occupational health services. Episodes per 1000 salaried workers and episode duration varied by country; their distribution by diagnostic was similar. Basic and useful SA indicators can be constructed to facilitate cross-country comparisons.
authors.affiliation: 1 Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas, USA2 Center for Research in Occupational Health (CiSAL), University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain3 CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain David.Gimeno@uth.tmc.edu.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gimeno
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bültmann
authors.affiliation: 2 Center for Research in Occupational Health (CiSAL), University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain3 CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Benavides
authors.affiliation: 5 Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alexanderson
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Femke I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Abma
authors.affiliation: 2 Center for Research in Occupational Health (CiSAL), University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain3 CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain.
authors.forename: Mònica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ubalde-López
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Corné A M
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Roelen
authors.affiliation: 5 Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linnea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kjeldgård
authors.affiliation: 1 Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas, USA2 Center for Research in Occupational Health (CiSAL), University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain3 CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain.
authors.forename: George L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Delclos
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors