Disability to work due to respiratory diseases and their risk factors: cohort study in the judiciary sector in Brazil

Absenteeism is an indicator of disease load, therefor, its investigation contributes to worker health monitoring. Sick leave due to respiratory diseases (RD) is a frequent cause of absenteeism, especially among clerical workers, but few studies in the literature explore its risk factors. Fixed and ambispective cohort study (2011-2020) followed 2,669 judicial workers in Bahia, Brazil. Multivariable Cox regression identified first RD-related sick leave risk factors. Medical certificates were analyzed by diagnosis subgroups. Incidence rate of RD-related sick leave was 4.33/100 person-years. Women had 42% higher risk. Non-magistrates, those with more than 13 years of service, and Metropolitan Region workers had elevated risks. A total of 1,777 RD leave episodes occurred among 751 workers, totaling 5,644 absence days. Acute respiratory diseases were 83.7% of the licenses. These findings highlight RD-related absenteeism risk factors, which is essential to guide the adoption of preventive measures recommended by occupational health surveillance and to develop sustained policies for respiratory diseases prevention and health promotion.