Sick leave certification: a unique perspective on frequency and duration of episodes - a complete record of sickness certification in a defined population of employees in Malta

Table 1 Number (Episodes) and average duration (Days) of episodes by company (A to E); rates per 1000 employees per annum for selected diagnoses and for all diagnoses totalled.

	Company	A	B	C	D	E
Episodes	Injury on duty	10	29	17	167	200
	Sprains/Strains	71	310	517	904	692
	Low back pain	17	29	200	180	100
	Anxiety / Depression	4	24	0	44	38
	Upper respiratory tract infection	531	1,070	667	1,020	938
Total	All diagnoses	1,140	2,680	2,400	3,740	3,580
Days	Injury on duty	236	148	50	1,220	996
	Sprains/Strains	170	652	1,300	2,220	1,760
	Low back pain	44	91	667	952	304
	Anxiety / Depression	8	267	0	132	446
	Upper respiratory tract infection	1,290	2,660	1,870	2,760	2,380
Total	All diagnoses	3,030	6,870	6,880	12,950	10,280

Company A: a goods distributor/agency with 175 mostly young employees, 56% male, 80% with desk jobs; Company B: a car dealership with 70 employees, 67% males, 55% with desk jobs; Company C: a sports complex, 20 employees, 80% males, 85% manual work; Company D: an animal fodder processing plant, 76 employees, 70% male industrial workers, Company E: a steel fabrication plant, 80 male employees, heavy manual work.

ISSN: 2731-4553