BKK-Roof Association: Health status in 2023 slightly decreased
Since the peak of the Coronapandemic, the number of sick reports has increased and has remained at a consistently high level, the association explained further. On average, each employed BKK member was sick approximately twice in 2023.
This equated to 1.9 sickness cases per employee. This was the highest value since recording began. The average duration of absence was reportedly 11.5 sick days per case and was significantly lower than the values of previous years.
The reasons for this development were reportedly above-average frequent respiratory infections and infections due to the flu and common cold waves in the previous year. This was further confirmed by the significantly increased proportion of short-term illnesses at 67.8%.
Respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain were, together with psychological disorders, responsible for more than half of all absence days - 56.7%. Respiratory diseases accounted for 35.4% of all sickness cases and were the most common cause of work incapacity.
There were also significant differences between the federal states. The lowest absences were reported in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hamburg. Employees in Baden-Württemberg were absent the least, with 18.5 sick days. However, the most absence days were reported in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with 29.5.
The BKK-Roofing Association in Berlin shared that the high health status concerns in 2023, largely attributed to the Corona-Pandemic, resulted in an average of two sick reports per employee, a figure last seen since record-keeping began in Germany. The association highlighted that the average duration of these absences in 2023 was lower than previous years, despite the high number of sick days.
Germany saw a higher prevalence of respiratory infections throughout 2022, which contributed to the above-average rate of short-term illnesses among BKK members in 2023, reaching a staggering 67.8%. Interestingly, this happened while Germany was in the midst of its recovery from the Corona-Pandemic in 2023.
To better understand the impacts of the Corona-Pandemic on health status in Germany, especially in Berlin's BKK-Roofing Association, it would be beneficial to conduct further studies covering multiple years post-2023 and compare them to pre-pandemic data.
