OVERVIEW

Fundamentals: Few recent studies have investigated in our half the magnitude and trends of the impact of tobacco in lost productivity. The objective of this study was to describe the proportion of episodes and days in non-professional temporary disability of length greater than 5 days and attributable to tobacco use in Catalonia in the 2007-2016 period, with respect to the total number of temporary disability in workers aged 35-64.

Methods: Descriptive study of 3.627.107 episodes and 237.219.230 days of temporary disability for all causes except the of occupational origin, in 35-64 years old workers. Population etiologic fractions were applied. We calculated the annual proportion of episodes and days in temporary disability attributable (ITA) with respect to the temporary disability (TD) by all causes and we conducted a test of trend.

Results: The percentage of episodes and days in ITA by tobacco use was higher in men (3.9%, 5.5%, respectively) than in women (2.3%, 1.5%, respectively). The tendency of the ITA was ascending, with a maximum OR in 2013. For episodes of ITA, the corrected Z was 25.3 in men (p < 0.001) and 49.4 in women (p < 0.001). For days in ITA, corrected Z was 36.9 in men (p < 0.001) and 250,4 women (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Around 3% of the episodes of IT of 5 days or more are attributable to tobacco, with an upward trend in both sexes. It is necessary to continue strengthening the prevention and tobacco control policies to enhance this trend.

ABSTRACT

Background: Few recent studies have researched into the size and trends of the impact of tobacco use on productivity losses. The objective of this work was to describe the percentage of episodes and non work-related sick leave days with a duration over 5 days due to tobacco use in Catalonia in the period 2007-2016 in relation to the total sick-leave and sick leave days in patients aged episodes 35-64.

Methods: Descriptive study of 3,627,107 episodes and 237,219,230 days in sick-leave by any cause, except those workrelated, in workers aged 35-64. Population etiological fractions were used. The annual percentage of number of episodes and sick-leave days due to tobacco use in relation with total episodes and sick-leave days was calculated and a trend test was perfor-med.

Results: The percentage of sick-leave days due to tobacco and episodes use was higher in men (3.9%, 5.5% respectively) than in women (2.3%, 1.5% respectively). The trend for sick-leave due to tobacco use was positive, with a maximum OR in 2013. For the number of sick-leave episodes due to tobacco use, the corrected Z was 25.3 in men (p < 0.001) and 49.4 in women (p < 0.001). For sick-leave days due to tobacco use, the corrected Z was 36.9 in men (p < 0.001) and 250.4 in women (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: About 3% of sick-leave episodes with a duration over than 5 days are due to tobacco use, with a positive trend in both sexes. It is necessary to continue reinforcing the tobacco prevention and control policies in order to improve such trends for years to come.