Sammanfattning
Background: Employees in the Health Services have the highest sickness absence in Norway.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between different shift
schedules and self-reported sick leave, when adjusting for job satisfaction and lifestyle factors.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on 1464 nurses from a Norwegian cohort study about
shift work, sleep and health. We examined differences between nurses working fixed day-shifts, fixed
night-shifts and three-shift rotation, with respect to sick leave, job satisfaction, age, years as nurses,
body mass index, whether they had children at home, and alcohol and smoking habits.
Results: No differences were found regarding sickness absence (yes/no) the past year, comparing
nurses in the three different shift schedules. The number of days of sickness absence was higher
among female nurses in three-shift rotation (chi-square test, p = 0.02). Among female nurses, we
found an association between number of sick leave days and working three-shift rotation, after
adjustment for job satisfaction and life-style factors, using logistic regression analyses.
Conclusion: This study shows an association between high sickness absence and working three-shift
rotation, among female nurses.