Study Shows Smokers Take More Than A Week Extra Annual Sick Time Than Non-Smokers

Article in the New York Times -- Patterns: Smokers Take More Sick Time Than Nonsmokers, Study Says , by Nicholas Bakalar.  Here's an excerpt:

A study of Swedish workers has found that smokers take more than a week more annual sick leave than nonsmokers, even after adjusting for smokers’ general health and their tendency to take more stressful or physically taxing jobs.

Using data on 14,272 workers ages 16 to 65, researchers studied sick leave reports from a nationwide survey conducted from 1988 to 1991. According to background information in the article, smokers are known to choose more dangerous jobs than nonsmokers and are more likely to be involved in risky activities. Those tendencies, the article said, rather than smoking, might contribute to the greater number of sick days among smokers. But even after statistically controlling for these factors, the large difference between smokers and nonsmokers was evident.

BGS