ArticleBMC public health2016
Addressing medical absenteeism in pre-vocational secondary students: effectiveness of a public health intervention, using a quasi-experimental design.
Article in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drinking water and the implications for gender equity and empowerment: A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative evidence.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2023Pooled it
- Feasibility study of a revised intervention for addressing student sickness absence: a qualitative evaluation.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Associations of somatic and internalising symptoms with school absences: a national survey from Finland.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Statewide Academic Performance of High School Students With Sickle Cell Disease.Pediatric blood & cancer · 2025Article
- Medical advice for sick-reported students in a Dutch vocational school: a process evaluation.Health promotion international · 2023Article
- Stakeholder perspectives on primary school pupils and sickness absence - exploring opportunities and challenges.Educational review · 2023Article
- How to deal with sickness absence among primary school pupils? Adaptation of the "Medical Advice for Sick-reported Students" intervention.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The Preventive Child and Youth Healthcare Service in the Netherlands: The State of the Art and Challenges Ahead.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Process Evaluation of the Child and Youth Healthcare Intervention 'Medical Advice for Sick-Reported Students in Primary School' (MASS-PS).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Professionals' and Students' Perceived Needs for an Online Supportive Application for Reducing School Absence and Stimulating Reintegration: Concept Mapping Study.JMIR formative research · 2021Article
- Addressing sickness absence among adolescents and young adults: an evaluation of the Medical Advice for Sick-reported Students intervention.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Towards a Better Understanding of Sickness Absence in Adolescence: A Qualitative Study among Dutch Intermediate Vocational Education Students.BioMed research international · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudents' health and school absenteeism affect educational level, with adverse effects on their future health. This interdependence is reflected in medical absenteeism. In the Netherlands, a public health intervention has been developed to address medical absenteeism in pre-vocational secondary education. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of this intervention on students' medical absenteeism, compared to "medical absenteeism policy as usual".
methodsA quasi-experimental design with an intervention group (493 students) and a control group (445 students) was applied. Multilevel analysis was used to study differences in the development of the level of a student's medical absence over time (after 3 and 12 months).
resultsIn the intervention group, the level of absenteeism decreased from 8.5 days reported sick in 12 school weeks to 5.7 days after 3 months, and to 4.9 days after 12 months. The number of absence periods fell from 3.9 in 12 school weeks to 2.5 after 3 months, and to 2.2 after 12 months. In the control group, the absence days initially decreased from 9.9 days reported sick in 12 school weeks to 8.4 days after 3 months, after which an increase to 8.9 days was measured. The number of absence periods initially decreased from 4.5 in 12 school weeks to 3.5, after which an increase to 3.7 was measured. The number of absence days per period remained about the same in both groups.
conclusionsThe study provides first indications for the intervention to be effective for Dutch pre-vocational secondary students with increased medical absence rates. The intervention, which consists of personalised management of medical absenteeism by systematic identification of students with extensive medical absenteeism and consistent referral to youth health care physicians, appears to reduce the absence rates more effectively than "medical absenteeism policy as usual". The effectiveness of the intervention is shown primarily by a decrease in the number of periods reported sick.
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