SMOKERS TAKE MORE SICK DAYS, STUDY SHOWS
Smokers take an average of eight days more sick leave a year than
non-smoking colleagues, according to a new study published
today.
Researchers said the difference was down to smokers' poorer
underlying health and overall riskier attitude to life.
Ill-health due to smoking - including lung cancer, asthma and
fertility problems - is well established.
As a result, the associated medical costs make up a small but
important part of the total healthcare burden in developed
countries - 8% in the US, 3.8% in Canada and 3.7% in Germany.
The indirect costs, in terms of the loss of working days, are
also a major burden for the economy.
"Smokers are older, less educated, have more chronic diseases,
are more likely to report bad health ... compared with
non-smokers," Petter Lundborg, of the University of Amsterdam,
wrote in the Tobacco Control journal today.
