Work Absenteeism amongst Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Health Institution in Sokoto, Nigeria

Aim: This study was aimed at assessing the pattern and reasons for work absenteeism among health care workers at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria.

Study Design: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out amongst health workers at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. The study was carried out at the study site from 6th October to 11th December 2017. Using a systematic sampling method, a total of 242 study subjects were recruited for the study. Data collected were entered into and analyzed using IBM SPSS computer software with a level of statistical significance set at p= p< 0.05.

Results: One hundred and ten (45.5%) out of 242 had at least one spell of absence in a year. Absence was highest among the nurses (50.0%) and was lowest among pharmacists (0.9%) with overall absenteeism rate of 1.5%. One hundred and thirty – eight (78.0%) of respondents that were absent from work was due to sickness/illness that affected themselves majorly (88.7%) which was mainly due to Malaria (76.6%) followed by RTA (26.2%).

Conclusion: The most frequent reason for workers' absence was sickness or illness with malaria accounting for the most significant number of spells. Although absenteeism rate in this study was found to be very low, the findings underscore the need to put in place adequate sickness absence surveillance and management aimed at addressing the relevant reasons and improving the working conditions of health workers.