20.500.12556/RUP-23368 Did the COVID-19 pandemic mask an increase in musculoskeletal disorder–related sickness absence a national ecological surveillance study of the Slovenian workforce and healthcare sector, 2015–2024 Aim To examine trends in musculoskeletal disorder (MSD)–related sickness absence in Slovenia from 2015 to 2024 among healthcare workers (HCWs) and compare patterns with the general workforce (GWs), with particular attention to prepandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic trajectories and sex-related differences. Subject and methods This population-level ecological surveillance study used aggregated national administrative data from the National Institute of Public Health of Slovenia. Annual sickness absence incidence rates (cases per 100 employees) were calculated for HCWs (NACE Rev. 2, Division 86) and GWs aged 20–65 years. Data were stratified by sex and calendar year. Sex differences were quantified using incidence rate ratios (IRRs). Results MSD-related sickness absence incidence was consistently higher among HCWs than GWs throughout the observation period, with crude HCWs-versus-GWs IRRs ranging from 1.16 to 1.28. Incidence increased from 7.41 to 9.86 cases per 100 employees in GWs and from 8.90 to 11.43 cases per 100 employees in HCWs between 2015 and 2024. In both sectors, incidence declined during 2020–2021 but subsequently increased, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 2024. Women had higher incidence than men in both workforce groups, with IRRs calculated from incidence rates averaged across the full observation period of 1.41 (95% CI=1.40–1.41) in GWs and 1.67 (95% CI=1.62–1.71) in HCWs. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily masked a continuing upward trend in MSD-related sickness absence in Slovenia. The burden remains disproportionately high among HCWs and women. These findings support the need for sectorspecific and sex-sensitive prevention strategies and continued national surveillance pandemic covid19 coronavirus sick leave pandemija covid19 koronavirus bolniška odsotnost true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-07-28 23:18:57 2026-07-28 23:19:02 2026-07-29 03:04:55 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 str. 1-9 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova VTisku NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-07-25 616.72/.75(497.4) 1613-2238 10.1007/s10389-026-02867-0 286271747 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10389-026-02867-0 1 c10c57bf-8ac9-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34192 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-026-02867-0 1 c2537706-8ac9-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34193 RAZ_Zerbo_Sporin_Dorjana_2026.pdf RAZ_Zerbo_Sporin_Dorjana_2026.pdf 1 3498030008D07E98000DDE9B1E9DE0AF cd753c91f1b59a3b584a4f49a89548b086b0dd00f86af0f09377d4ae9787eeba caa9ce12-8aca-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34194 s10389-026-02867-0.pdf s10389-026-02867-0.pdf 1 ceb82b2d-8aca-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34195 Fakulteta za vede o zdravju 0 0 0