Medical and dental absenteeism in workers from a furniture industry in Itatiba, SP, Brazil

Introduction: Absenteeism is a matter of growing interest due to the current economic competitiveness and leads companies to seek means to minimize its occurrence in order to increase the profitability and productivity. Aim: To identify the major factors involved in medical and dental absenteeism in a furniture industry in the city of Itatiba, SP, Brazil, between 2005 and 2008. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study in which all workers’ medical and dental certificates issued from January 2005 to December 2008 were reviewed. Data collection was performed in the industry and the variables in the dental and medical certificates were: activity, date of the certificate (year and month), International Classification of Diseases (ICD), absenteeism duration (hours), certificate type (medical or dental), declaration variations, and completeness. Questionnaires were also applied to all employees of the industry without exclusion criteria for demographic profile, using the variables focusing on gender, age and education level. Results: 111 (65.2%) workers replied to the questionnaire. As much as 84.6% of them were men with mean age of 31.4 years. The education level of most employees was high school (53.2%). 943 certificates were analyzed, being 775 (82.2%) medical and 168 (17.8%) dental certificate. The only ICD found in the dental certificates is K 525-8, which refers to “other diseases and disorders of the teeth and supporting structures”. The loss of working time was 7098.5 work hours and 887.3 work days considering an 8-hour working day. There was a statistically significant association (p<0.0001) between the duration of the absence and the cause. Conclusions: The absenteeism in the furniture industry was more frequently due to medical rather than dental reasons. There were several certificates lacking the ICD codes. The number of lost work hours due to medical and dental problems is a significant economic factor.