The aim of this study was to estimate the annual number of days absent from work associated with diabetes-related complications. Registry data were obtained for 34,882 individuals aged 18–70 years with hospital-diagnosed diabetes (ICD-10 codes: E10–E14) identified from a large national sample (40% of the Danish population) with 6 years of hospital utilisation data. The occurrence of a complication was defined as a hospital admission with a specified diagnosis or procedure code. Data on sickness episodes with municipal subsidy were retrieved for each individual. Days absent from work attributable to complications were defined as the estimated difference in absence days between individuals with and without the specified complication and were estimated for the first and subsequent years after the initial episode of the recorded complication. Angina pectoris, ischaemic stroke, and heart failure were the three most frequent complications in the population. Heart failure, amputation, renal disease, and peripheral vascular disease were on average associated with more than three-month additional absence from work during the first and subsequent years. Leg ulcers and neuropathy were associated with more days absent from work during the first year than in subsequent years. Diabetes complications are associated with a substantial number of additional days absent from work. The avoidance of these complications would benefit both patients and society. 1. Introduction Diabetes is a chronic disease that has a serious impact on health status, duration of life, cost of health care, and social production [1]. Diabetes is associated with a number of long-term health complications, many of which impose additional costs above those associated with the disease itself and thus can be a considerable burden on health care systems [2]. Such complications are likely to incur additional indirect costs to patients, employers, and society due to absence from work caused by sickness days and early retirement. A US-based analysis of the cost attributable to diabetes estimated an annual cost of 174 billion $ in 2007. Two-thirds of this cost was related to health care of patients with diabetes and one-third to lost production. The cost of lost production included costs associated with “work day absence” (4%), “reduced performance at work” (34%), “permanent disability” (14%), and “premature mortality” (46%) [3]. Although the analysis suggested that the production cost related to premature deaths was substantial, the production loss of individuals living with diabetes was also
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