BMJ  2003;327 (16 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7411.0-b

Certified sickness absence accurately indicates health differentials

Sickness absence data can be used as an indicator of employees' health. Kivimäki and colleagues (p 364) compared the association between sickness absence and mortality with associations between established health indicators and mortality in 10 308 civil servants, of whom 355 died during follow up. In both sexes, mortality increased as the absence rate increased, indicating that medically certified sickness absence accurately reflects health differentials between employees. The rate of medically certified sickness absence was a more powerful predictor of mortality than other established health indicators.

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Sickness absence as a global measure of health: evidence from mortality in the Whitehall II prospective cohort study

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BMJ 2003 327: 364. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]