Fewer sick leave in the first half of the year

DAK: sick leave declined in the first half of 2014

08/20/2014

In the first half of 2014, employees in Germany were much less ill than in the first six months of 2013, according to the latest release from the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit. Overall, the number of sick leave fell from 4.1 to 3.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. However, there was a renewed increase in mental illness and the average duration of sick leave has increased, reports the DAK.

According to the DAK, the declining medical records were decisive „the severe decline in respiratory diseases such as cough, bronchitis or pneumonia.“ Due to the cold winter in the previous year, the cold spell caused the number of sick people to skyrocket. „It is gratifying that in the first half of the year the sick leave has fallen slightly again overall. It is noteworthy, however, that the number of mental illnesses continues to rise against the general trend“, commented DAK CEO Herbert Rebscher the results of the current evaluation.

Average duration of sick leave increased
Overall, according to the DAK in the first half of 2014 a good one-third (34.2 percent) of all working people were sick at least once. In the same period last year, it was still 38.7 percent. However, the average duration of a disease increased slightly compared to the previous year - from 11.6 days in 2013 to currently 12.2 days. According to the DAK, more than half (53.1 percent) of the cases are due to three groups of diagnoses: musculoskeletal disorders, mental illness and colds. The most common reason was the musculoskeletal disorders, wherein „more than every fifth day of absence (22.6 percent) caused by back pain or knee problems“ became, reports the DAK. The second most common mental illness would have led to sick leave. They account for a share of 16 percent on all days off. By a good ten percent, the number of cases of depression or anxiety has increased. According to the DAK, women were affected much more frequently than men. According to the health insurer, colds caused 14.5 percent of absenteeism (previous year: 22.1 percent).

Serious increase in mental illness
The drastic increase in sick leave due to mental illness is particularly worrying in the opinion of the DAK Chairman. Here should „Therefore companies should invest in work organization and stress prevention to support their employees and to keep them as healthy as possible“, stressed Rebscher. According to the DAK, the current sickness analysis was developed by the Berlin IGES Institute, which analyzed the data of 2.5 million employed DAK insured persons from the first half of 2014 for this purpose. At the same time regional differences became clear. For example, the employees from the eastern federal states with a sick leave of 4.7 percent are more frequently sick leave than in the West (3.6 percent), reports the DAK. (Fp)