Objectives To quantify the burden of COVID-19-related sick leave during the first pandemic wave in France, accounting for sick leaves due to symptomatic COVID-19 (‘symptomatic sick leaves’) and those due to close contact with COVID-19 cases (‘contact sick leaves’). Methods We combined data from a national demographic database, an occupational health survey, a social behaviour survey and a dynamic SARS-CoV-2 transmission model. Sick leave incidence from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2020 was estimated by summing daily probabilities of symptomatic and contact sick leaves, stratified by age and administrative region. Results There were an estimated 1.70M COVID-19-related sick leaves among France’s 40M working-age adults during the first pandemic wave, including 0.42M due to COVID-19 symptoms and 1.28M due to COVID-19 contacts. There was great geographical variation, with peak daily sick leave incidence ranging from 230 in Corse (Corsica) to 33 000 in Île-de-France (the greater Paris region), and greatest overall burden in regions of north-eastern France. Regional sick leave burden was generally proportional to local COVID-19 prevalence, but age-adjusted employment rates and contact behaviours also contributed. For instance, 37% of symptomatic infections occurred in Île-de-France, but 45% of sick leaves. Middle-aged workers bore disproportionately high sick leave burden, owing predominantly to greater incidence of contact sick leaves. Conclusions France was heavily impacted by sick leave during the first pandemic wave, with COVID-19 contacts accounting for approximately three-quarters of COVID-19-related sick leaves. In the absence of representative sick leave registry data, local demography, employment patterns, epidemiological trends and contact behaviours can be synthesised to quantify sick leave burden and, in turn, predict economic consequences of infectious disease epidemics.

Objectives In modern professional life, mental health prevention and promotion have become a major challenge for decision-makers. Devising appropriate actions requires better understanding the role played by each work-related psychosocial factor (WPSF). The objective of this study was to present a relevant tool to hierarchise WPSFs that jointly takes into account their importance (impact on mental health) and their prevalence (the proportion of the population exposed to WPSF). Design A cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2018 among 3200 French workers which are representative of the French working population. Setting France. Participants Individuals aged 18–80 years who declared currently having a job (even a part-time job) whatever their occupation or status (employee or self-employed) were eligible. We excluded students, unemployed individuals, housewives/husbands and retired people. The mental health level was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire-28 and 44 items were gathered from theoretical models of WPSFs. We assessed two distinct multivariate methods for calculating WPSF importance: (1) weifila (weighted first last) method in a linear regression context and (2) random forests in a non-linear context. Both methods were adjusted on individual, health and job characteristics. Results The WPSF rankings obtained with the two methods to calculate importance are strongly consistent with each other (correlation coefficient=0.88). We highlighted nine WPSFs that are ranked high by both methods. In particular, irrespective of the chosen method, lack of communication, lack of social and hierarchy support and personal–professional life imbalance, emotional demands at work and dissatisfaction with the compensation received came out as top-ranking WPSFs. Conclusions A total of nine WPSFs were identified as key for decision-making. The easy-to-use tools we propose can help decision-makers identify priority WPSFs and design effective strategies to promote mental health in the workplace.

Objective: To better understand the different pathways linking socioeconomic position and HIV testing uptake in 18 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Design: We used cross-sectional population-based surveys between 2010 and 2018. Methods: Using a potential outcomes framework and the product method, we decomposed the total effect linking wealth and recent (<12 months) HIV testing into direct effects, and indirect effects, via internal (related to individual's ability to perceive need for and to seek care) or external (ability to reach, pay for and engage in healthcare) mediators to calculate the proportion mediated (PM) by each mediator. Results: High levels of inequalities were observed in nine and 15 countries among women and men, respectively. The mediator indirect effect varied greatly across countries. The PM tended to be higher for internal than for external mediators. For instance, among women, HIV-related knowledge was estimated to mediate up to 12.1% of inequalities in Côte d'Ivoire; and up to 31.5% for positive attitudes towards people with HIV (PWH) in Senegal. For the four external mediators, the PM was systematically below 7%. Similar findings were found when repeating analyses on men for the internal mediators, with higher PM by attitudes towards PWH (up to 39.9% in Senegal). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that wealth-related inequalities in HIV testing may be mediated by internal more than external characteristics, with important variability across countries. Overall, the important heterogeneities in the pathways of wealth-related inequalities in HIV testing illustrate that addressing inequalities requires tailored efforts and upstream interventions.

Objective Healthcare workers are at high risk of experiencing stress and fatigue due to the demands of their work within hospitals. Improving their physical and mental health and in turn, the quality and safety of care, requires considering factors at both individual and organizational levels. Using a multi-center prospective cohort, this study aims to identify the individual and organizational predictors of stress and fatigue of healthcare workers in several wards from university hospitals. Methods Our cohort consist of 695 healthcare workers from 32 hospital wards drawn at random within four volunteer hospital centers in Paris-area. Three-level longitudinal analyses, accounting for repeated measures (level 1) across participants (level 2) nested within wards (level 3) and adjusted for relevant fixed and time varying confounders were performed. Results At baseline, the sample was composed by 384 registered nurses, 300 auxiliary nurses and 11 midwives. According to the 3-level longitudinal models, some predictors were found in common for both stress and fatigue (low support from the hierarchy, low safety culture, overcommitment at work, presenteeism while sick…). However, specific predictors for high level of stress (negative life events, low support from the colleagues and high frequency of break cancellation) and fatigue (commuting duration, frequent use of interim staff in the ward…) were also found. Conclusion Our results may help identify at-risk healthcare workers and wards, where interventions to reduce stress and fatigue should be focused. These interventions could include manager training to favor better staff support and overall safety culture of healthcare workers. 1. What is already known about this subject? Healthcare workers have high levels of perceived stress and fatigue, particularly in medical fields highly exposed to infectious risks. High occupational stress and fatigue can negatively affect healthcare workers behaviors in terms of absenteeism, and ultimately intention to leave as well as quality of care. Individual and organizational differences contribute to different perceptions and consequences of occupational stress and fatigue in healthcare workers. 2. What are the new findings? The ward-level environment significantly influences the stress and fatigue of healthcare workers, in addition to individual factors and time variations. Hierarchy providing low support and with low safety culture, work overinvestment, presenteeism while sick, and working in smaller wards were identified as predictors of both high stress and fatigue of healthcare workers. Negative life events (whether personal or professional), low support from the colleagues and high frequency of break cancellation are specific predictors of high level of stress. While commuting duration, frequent use of interim staff and working in a medical ward were associated with high level of fatigue. 3. How might this impact on policy or clinical practice in the foreseeable future? In this study, we can identify some areas for improvement to better prevent stress and fatigue for healthcare workers. High stress and fatigue can be reduced through mutual and specific organizational intervention strategies.