Presenteeism amongst Employees with Musculoskeletal Health Problems
Presenteeism in Employees with Musculoskeletal Health Problems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55735/hjprs.v3i12.259Keywords:
Employees, Musculoskeletal Health, occupational health, presenteeismAbstract
Background: Presenteeism is generally understood as attending work despite health problems and in the past has not gained enough attention in organisations as its counterpart absenteeism. The consequence of presenteeism is that employees often manifest symptoms of exhaustion and burnout derived from inadequate recovery from illness. Objective: To explore the levels of presenteeism amongst employees with musculoskeletal health problems attending an occupational health service. Methods: Data were collected from January 1 to June 30, 2024, at an occupational health service based within a North London National Health Service Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom. An OPAS-G2 database was utilised to identify and select employees with musculoskeletal health problems that attended the occupational health service within the data collection period. Musculoskeletal health problems were chosen because it is the most common reason for employees at the Trust to be absent from work, but its impact on presenteeism remains unknown. Employees were mailed the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6) and asked to complete and return it in a pre-paid envelope. Demographic data such as age, gender, years of service, work status and site of pain/injury was captured on a spreadsheet. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Software for Excel package. Results: A total of 49 (64.5%) employees met the cut-off point of 19 or above on the SPS-6 questionnaire indicating a high level of presenteeism. A total of 27 (35.5%) employees met the cut-off point of 18 or below on the SPS-6 questionnaire indicating a low level of presenteeism. Conclusion: The SPS-6 was found to be a useful instrument for providing a framework within which to explore levels of presenteeism of employees with musculoskeletal health problems at a healthcare Trust in North London, United Kingdom. Presenteeism is more likely to occur amongst healthcare employees because the jobs are highly demanding and require considerable commitment. Providing healthcare under poor physical and psychological conditions can interfere with attention and concentration and impair the delivery of quality care with consequent risk to clients and organisation. The level of presenteeism amongst employees with musculoskeletal health problems was high.
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