Low temperatures discovered to extend the danger of sick depart, particularly for ladies, younger individuals and third sector employees

A retrospective examine of temperatures within the province of Barcelona reveals that low temperatures enhance the danger of happening a interval of sick depart, due specifically to infectious and respiratory illnesses.

The examine, carried out by researchers from Middle for Analysis in Occupational Well being (CISAL) and the Division of Medication and Life Sciences at UPF (MELIS); the Barcelona Institute for World Well being (ISGlobal), an establishment supported by the “la Caixa” Basis and CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Well being (CIBERESP), reveals that the sectors of the inhabitants most affected are ladies, younger individuals and individuals who work within the companies sector who perform non-manual duties which are typically completed in indoor areas.

In line with the examine printed in Frontiers in Public Well being, the size of illness absences will increase from between two and 6 days following a interval of low temperatures. This rise in illness absence could possibly be attributable to the rise within the circulation and transmission of pathogens akin to bronchitis or the flu virus, in indoor areas, which trigger infections of the higher respiratory tract.

“It is crucial that by monitoring occupational well being the weather that trigger illness absence may be recognized to be able to develop efficient measures that go in the direction of bettering the well being of working individuals”

Momentary incapacity to work, generally referred to as sick depart, is a fancy phenomenon which impacts the standard of lifetime of working individuals and the economic system, and extends to society as an entire, albeit in several methods. That’s the reason “it is vital that by monitoring occupational well being the weather that trigger illness absence may be recognized to be able to develop efficient measures that go in the direction of bettering the well being of working individuals and their high quality of life, and decreasing the prices for enterprise individuals and the social safety system,” explains Xavier Basagaña, coordinator of the examine.

Ladies stand out amongst these most affected by this phenomenon. “It should not come as a shock that ladies have extra illness absences as a result of they nonetheless have extra precarious jobs and with worse working circumstances than males. Even when this isn’t the case, ladies carry extra household and care tasks, particularly if they’ve youngsters,” explains Mireia Utzet, lead writer of the examine, and Amaya Ayala-García.

Within the examine, round 100,000 durations of illness absence and greater than 40,000 salaried individuals have been analyzed from the Barcelona province between 2012 and 2015. Surprisingly, the examine discovered no relationship between rises in temperature and illness absence. This lack of a correlation could possibly be because of the nature of the cohort studied, during which a higher variety of employees from the third sector have been represented, who work in indoor areas which are sometimes air-conditioned.

Offered by
Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Barcelona