AUTHOR=Spielmann Marie , Tiede Anika , Krolo Filipa , Sadewasser Kornelia , Aghdassi Ali Alexander , Busch Chia-Jung , Hinz Peter , van der Linde Julia , John Ulrich , Freyer-Adam Jennis 

TITLE=Investigating the Association Between the Co-Occurrence of Behavioral Health Risk Factors and Sick Days in General Hospital Patients

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=67

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1605215

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2022.1605215

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> To investigate the co-occurrence of 4 behavioral health risk factors (BHRFs), namely tobacco smoking, alcohol at-risk drinking, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet and their association with sick days prior to hospitalization in general hospital patients.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Over 10 weeks (11/2020-04/2021), all 18-64-year-old patients admitted to internal medicine, general and trauma surgery, and otorhinolaryngology wards of a tertiary care hospital were systematically approached. Among 355 eligible patients, 278 (78.3%) participated, and 256 (72.1%) were analyzed. Three BHRF sum scores were determined, including current tobacco smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity and 1 of 3 indicators of unhealthy diet. Associations between BHRF sum scores and sick days in the past 6 months were analyzed using multivariate zero-inflated negative binomial regressions.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Sixty-two percent reported multiple BHRFs (≥2). The BHRF sum score was related to the number of sick days if any (<italic>p</italic> = 0.009) with insufficient vegetable and fruit intake as diet indicator.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The majority of patients disclosed multiple BHRFs. These were associated with sick days prior to admission. The findings support the need to implement interventions targeting multiple BHRFs in general hospitals.</p>