A Cross-Sectional Study of Psychosocial Factors and Sickness Presenteeism in Japanese Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  1. Masashi Masuda
  2. Tomohiro Ishimaru
  3. Ayako Hino
  4. Hajime Ando
  5. Seiichiro Tateishi
  6. Tomohisa Nagata
  7. Mayumi Tsuji
  8. Shinya Matsuda
  9. Yoshihisa Fujino

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Abstract

We examined the association between socioeconomic and health status, and lifestyle and sickness presenteeism among Japanese workers during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study using an Internet-monitor survey was conducted in December, 2020 in Japan. Of 33,302 survey participants, we analyzed 27,036 participants (13,814 men and 13,222 women) who reported experience with sickness presenteeism.

Results:

The odds ratio (OR) of sickness presenteeism associated with unmarried versus married status was 1.15. Respective figures for other variables were 1.11 for manual laboring work compared to desk work; 1.79 and 2.29 for loss of employment at the time the pandemic began and continuation of unemployment compared with maintaining employment during the pandemic; and 3.34 for a feeling of financial instability compared with stability.

Conclusion:

The issue of sickness presenteeism has become more prominent under the COVID-19 epidemic.

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  1. Version published to 10.1097/jom.0000000000002415
  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.07.23.21260909v2 on medRxiv
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.07.23.21260909: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: This study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
    Consent: Informed consent was obtained via a form on the survey website.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Stata Statistical Software version 16 (StataCorp LLC, TX, USA) was used for all analyses.
    StataCorp
    suggested: (Stata, RRID:SCR_012763)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    There are several limitations in this study. First, it was not knonw the reasons accounting for sickness presenteeism. Many possible explanations may explain why workers experience sickness presenteeism, including financial hardship preventing medical visits, unstable employment, or unavailability of sick leave entitlement. Second, we did not investigate the types of illnesses and health problems experienced by people with sickness presenteeism. Third, we did not determined the chronological relationship between sickness presenteeism and socioeconomic status and lifestyle. In this study, we found that around 19% of Japanese workers experienced sickness presenteeism during the period of rapidly spreading COVID-19 infection. Those who were socioeconomically disadvantaged, in poor health, or with unfavorable lifestyle habits were more likely to report sickness presenteeism. Accordingly, the issue of sickness presenteeism has been highlighted by COVID-19. The increase in sickness presenteeism may not only worsen the health status of individuals, but also have long-term effects on society, such as reduced productivity and increased social security burden due to employment instability. These findings indicate the need for efforts to decrease sickness presenteeism in workers who need to recuperate at home.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2021.07.23.21260909v1 on medRxiv