looking for the possible association between stress, presenteeism and absenteeism among croatian nurses: a cross-sectional study

Background: stress is an important occupational hazard in numerous occupations. the consequences of stress have been associated with a number of health conditions. objectives: the aim of this study was to investigate whether nurses’ perceived levels of stress are associated to presenteeism and absenteeism. materials and methods: in a cross-sectional study, conducted at a public general hospital in croatia, medical nurses filled the perceived stress scale (pss-10) and short-form of the world health organization health and work performance questionnaire (who hpq). results: nurses experiencing absenteeism (26, 53%) had a little higher levels of stress (x = 18.85, sd = 7.31) when compared to those without absenteeism (x = 17.52, sd = 6.63), t (144) = 1.037, p = 0.301. nurses with presenteeism (15.74%) had statistically significantly higher levels of stress (m = 21.42, sd = 5.62), compared to nurses without presenteeism (x = 17.35, sd = 6.84), t(144) = 2.47, p = 0.015. linear regression (r2 = 0.032, p = 0.036) showed an association between presenteeism and stress (b = 3.952, s.e. = 1.26, β = 0.069). no association was found between absenteeism and stress. conclusions: although there is an association between presenteeism and stress, we cannot draw a causal line from this finding.