title: Sickness absence in a municipal public service of Goiânia, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sickness absence, as work absenteeism justified by medical certificate, is an important health status indicator of the employees and, overall, sociodemographic and occupational characteristics are among the main factors associated with sickness absence. Public administration accounts for 21.8% of the formal job positions in Brazil. This population allows the study of a wide range of professional categories.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the profile and indicators of sickness absence among public workers from the municipality of Goiania, in the State of Goiás, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study on certified sick leaves, lasting longer than three days, of all civil servants from January 2005 to December 2010. Prevalence rates were calculated using as main criteria the number of individuals, episodes and sick days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  40,578 certified sick leaves were granted for health treatment among 13,408 public workers, in an annual average population of 17,270 people, which resulted in 944,722 days of absenteeism. The cumulative prevalence of sick leave for the period was of 143.7%, with annual average of 39.2% and duration of 23 days per episode. The cumulative prevalence of sickness absence was higher among women (52.0%), older than 40 years old (55.9%), with a partner (49.9%), low schooling (54.4%), education professionals (54.7%), > 10 years of service (61.9%), and with multiple work contracts (53.7%). Diagnoses groups (ICD-10) with higher cumulative prevalence of sick leaves were those with mental disorders (26.5%), musculoskeletal diseases (25.1%), and injuries (23.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Indicators of sickness absence express the magnitude of this phenomenon in the public sector and can assist in planning health actions for the worker, prioritizing the most vulnerable occupational groups.
authors: Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
authors: Ana Lúcia de Melo
authors: AL
authors: Leão
authors: Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brasil.
authors: Anadergh
authors: A
authors: Barbosa-Branco
authors: Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
authors: Elias
authors: E
authors: Rassi Neto
authors: Secretaria Municipal de Saúde, Prefeitura de Goiânia, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
authors: Cristina Aparecida Neves
authors: CA
authors: Ribeiro
authors: Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
authors: Marília Dalva
authors: MD
authors: Turchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017150:Public Sector; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult