Sickness-related absenteeism and risk factors associated among flower farm industry workers in Bishoftu town, Southeast Ethiopia, 2018: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate prevalence and factors affecting sickness absenteeism among flower farm industry workers in Bishoftu town, Ethiopia. A workplace-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2018. A sample of 444 participants were included using a stratified sampling technique. We performed binary logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with sickness absenteeism. RESULTS: The entire sampled workers (N = 444) were interviewed. Of the respondents, 55.6% (N = 247) were females. The mean age was 24.2 (SD ± 6.6) years. About 54.5% (N = 242) [95% CI (50.2, 59.0)] of the participants indicated that they had experienced sickness absence of at least 3 consecutive working days in the past 12 months. A total of 1357 days were lost with an average duration of 5.6 days per worker per year. Female sex [AOR: 2.63; 95% CI (1.723, 4.036)], sickness presenteeism [AOR: 3.15; 95% CI (2.026, 4.904)], job dissatisfaction [AOR: 1.60; 95% CI (1.047, 2.462)] and drinking alcohol [AOR: 1.64; 95% CI (1.023, 2.621)] were associated factors. Sickness absenteeism had been found common in this study. Employers and policy designers need to formulate preventive schemes focusing on gender difference, job satisfaction, and the concomitant tackling of sickness absenteeism and presenteeism.