samedi 7 avril 2007

Fumer rend improductif - From the US

Et les gens qui prennent un dessert en déjeunant sont probablement moins productifs ?
Et ceux qui ont plus de 55 ans, perdent plus de temps dans les escaliers ?
Et ceux qui sont gros, vont moins vite d'un bureau à un autre, et font perdre du temps donc de l'argent aux entreprises ?

La grande nouvelle ! Entendes bien, on ne s’en doutait pas : Fumer rend malade ! Fumer fait perdre du temps !
En voila un résultat qui nécessitait des études scientifiques !

Avec des raisonnement comme ceux ci, on n’a pas fini de discriminer sur n'importe quel critères. C'est terrifiant en fait.


Merci à SCS pour m'avoir fait parvenir cet article paru sur Bloomberg.com le 29 mars 2007


Smokers Take More Sick Leave, Make Poorer Workers

By Etain Lavelle

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Smokers take an additional eight days of sick leave a year and are more likely to perform poorly in the workplace compared with non-smokers, according to two new studies published today.

Smokers in Sweden took extra days off sick compared with their non-smoking colleagues, researchers at the Free University of Amsterdam said. A separate analysis of the career progression of women entering the U.S. Navy found tobacco users performed worse than non-smokers.

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world, claiming one in 10 adults, and the fourth-most-common risk factor for disease, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva. People who smoke tend to choose riskier jobs and have poorer health, researchers said.

``Cigarette smoking might simply be a marker for other underlying factors such as non-conformity and high risk-taking, that contribute to poorer performance,'' San Diego State University researcher Terry Conway wrote in an article in the U.K. journal Tobacco Control.

In the Swedish study, Petter Lundborg and colleagues analyzed national data on sickness absence in 14,000 workers between 1988 and 1991. Smokers took an extra 11 days off compared to non-smokers, which was adjusted to eight days to account for the nature of their jobs and underlying health.

Sick Days

Smokers took an average of 34 sick days a year, compared with 20 days taken by those that never smoked, and 25 days taken by former smokers. At an average of 25 days a year, Sweden's sickness-absence rate is the highest of all countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S. average is nine days.

``The results suggest that policies that reduce and/or prevent smoking may also reduce the number of days of sick leave,'' Lundborg and colleagues wrote in Tobacco Control.

Countries across the European Union have banned smoking in public places, including Ireland, Italy, Malta, Spain and Norway. A ban will be in place across the U.K. starting in July after England, Wales and Northern Ireland join Scotland, which barred the practice last year.

Lundborg recommends further research into the correlation between sick leave and smoking, as factors other than tobacco use may play a part in the absences.

In the U.S. Navy study, researchers reviewed the career progression of almost 5,500 women entering the U.S. Navy between 1996 and 1997, Conway said.

The smokers were more likely to be discharged for medical reasons, bad behavior, misconduct, drug misuse and personality disorders, compared to non-smokers. They were also more likely to leave before they had served their full term and be paid less.

The study was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense. There are currently around 59,000 women serving in the U.S. Navy.

Tobacco Control is produced by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd., an arm of the British Medical Association. The association has no control over the journal's editorial policy or content.

To contact the reporter on this story: Etain Lavelle in London at at elavelle1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 29, 2007 10:19 EDT