Objective:

We describe time trend incidence (2009-2018) of non-work related Sickness Absence (SA) segmented by duration of episodes in Spain.

Methods:

We used SA cases from a health insurance company (“mutua”) in Spain. Overall non-work related SA incidence and incidence by duration of episodes (1-3 days, 4-15 days, 16-30 days, 31-90 days and> 90 days) were obtained. A time series ecological study was carried out with an inflection point in 2013. The annual percentage of change and 95% confidence interval were obtained. The analyses were stratified by age and sex.

Results:

Overall incidence went from 35.3 cases per 100 workers-years in 2009 to 25.2 in 2013. From 2014, there is a sustained rise in the incidence of ITCC, ending 2018 with 34.1 cases per 100 workers-years. The overall incidence is determined mainly by processes less than 16 days in young population. The decrease in 2009-2013 occurred in all the duration segments, especially in 4 to 15 (APC=-11,2; 95% CI=(-14,1 a -8,2)) and more than 90 days (APC =-9,4; 95% CI =(-15,5 a -2,8)), mainly in young people. The rise in 2013-2018 was observed in all the segments, with the largest significant increase in sections of 1-3 days (younger workers: APC =18,9; 95% CI =(14,8 a 23,2)) and in more than 90 days (mainly in older ones). Time trend of SA showed similar pattern in both sexes.

Conclusions:

Time trend analysis of SA incidence by duration segments offers a detailed information of SA. These results are useful for professionals in the prevention and management of SA.

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