Prevalence of and Work-Related Factors Associated with Sickness Presenteeism among Nursing Care Providers in Selected Tertiary Hospitals in Bangalore City: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Sickness presenteeism is a phenomenon where “workers go to work when ill.” The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and work-related factors associated with presenteeism among nursing care providers in selected tertiary hospitals in Bangalore city. METHODOLOGY: Participants were selected using stratified sampling followed by simple random sampling. A questionnaire was designed to capture socio-demographic information, sickness-related behavior, performance-based self-esteem (PBSE), and selected work-related characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 357 participants were enrolled in the study, 274 were staff nurses (S/N) and 83 were nursing assistants (N/A). About 75% of the participants reported presenteeism at least once in the last year, two-fifths did so in the last 4 weeks and nearly 15% were sick on the day of the interview. The mean Stanford Sickness Presenteeism Scale-6 score was 18.49 ± 3.84. The most frequent reason for presenteeism was “perceived mildness of the disease.” In bivariate analysis, those who were younger, male, had children, higher qualifications, chronic ailment/s, financial commitments, lesser work experience, and higher PBSE had higher presenteeism scores. When introduced into a linear regression model, those S/N who had children [Standardized coefficient = 0.23 (0.40–1.97)], higher PBSE scores [Standardized coefficient = 0.385 (0.15–2.55)], and reported sickness absenteeism in the preceding 4 weeks [Standardized coefficient = 0.136 (0.12–1.01)] were significantly associated with higher presenteeism scores. Those N/A who had lesser work experience had higher presenteeism scores [Standardized coefficient = −0.33 (−0.02–−0.004)]. CONCLUSION: Presenteeism is a common phenomenon among nursing care providers. It is imperative that both employers and employees be educated about its ill effects on the individual, fellow staff, and patients, followed by the adoption of preventive measures.