Introduction:

Absenteeism from work has been considered in recent times as one of the most important problems within organizations and even more so, in those concerning the health area; situation that motivates to study the factors that are associated with this aspect in the general practitioners of external consultation of a company that manages human talent in health in the city of Medellín. The reasons that allow the execution of this research are the costs associated with absenteeism, the dissatisfaction of the users, the decrease in the quality of the consultation and the safety of the patient framed in the continuity of care by their family doctor.

Objective:

To determine the frequency and factors associated with absenteeism in medical personnel, of a company that manages human talent in health, in the city of Medellín, during the first semester of 2019.

Materials and methods:

Analytical observational study of transversal type, developed in the first semester of 2019 in a human talent management company in health that provides external consultation services. The determination of work absenteeism was carried out, in general care physicians as a dependent variable and as independent variables, all those that describe the factors associated with the personal, social and work categories. Additionally, a description of the behavior of absenteeism, the measurement of the most frequent indicators and the calculation of direct costs was made. For data collection, a structured survey was used as a primary source of information, after a pilot test of 5% of the target population, with defined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results:

411 doctors were surveyed, 64.7% were women, the median age of 30 (IQR: 8) years, the percentage of absenteeism was 16.1% (66). Within the study population, women are the ones who tend to present higher levels of absenteeism, given that for every man who presents absenteeism there are 2.05 women, with a significant P = 0.020 value. Similarly, the possibility of making shift changes presents a statistical significance with a P value = 0.004 and an OR 3.67 with respect to those who do not identify ease in this variable.

Conclusion:

the factors that are associated with having absenteeism from work are female sex, not living together or being close to their family and the perception of not being able to change their work shifts.