Health-Related Quality of Life, Psychosocial Work Conditions, and Absenteeism in an Industrial Sample of Blue- and White-Collar Employees: A Comparison of Potential Predictors

PROBLEM: There is a scarcity of data simultaneously evaluating the relationship of health behavior, health perception, work characteristics, and demographic variables with sickness absenteeism in industrial employees. METHOD: Predictors and possible confounders (smoking, physical activity, alcohol intake, age, gender, body mass index, income) were regressed against frequency indices and the time lost index derived from the day-to-day absence data of 1524 employees at a manufacturing plant in Germany. Frequency indices were the number of sick-leave spells of 1, 2-3, 4-5, and >5 days within 1 year. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: Effort-reward imbalance, lack of support by supervisors or coworkers, negative affectivity, exhaustion, and impaired health perception were significantly associated with absence spells and the time lost index. Job demands and job control as well as overcommitment were unrelated to absenteeism indices. Multivariate models suggest mediation through impaired health-related quality of life.