The Societal and Patient-Level Burden of Sickness Absenteeism in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis Across Two Decades in Slovenia

Mitja Oblak; Aleša Lotrič Dolinar; Žiga Rotar; Matija Tomšič; Petra Došenović Bonča

doi:10.2478/sjph-2026-0015

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The Societal and Patient-Level Burden of Sickness Absenteeism in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis Across Two Decades in Slovenia

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

Volume 65 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)

By: Mitja Oblak , Aleša Lotrič Dolinar , Žiga Rotar , Matija Tomšič and Petra Došenović Bonča

Open Access

|Jun 2026

Figures & Tables

Dynamics of the total annual number of calendar days on sick leave during 2001–2019 and the average annual growth rates for indicators of SA in RA patients before and after the introduction of the biorx.si registry.

Dynamics of the total annual number of calendar days on sick leave during 2001–2019 and the average annual growth rates for indicators of SA in PsA patients before and after the introduction of the biorx.si registry.

Dynamics of the total annual number of calendar days on sick leave during 2001–2019 and the average annual growth rates for indicators of SA in AS patients before and after the introduction of the biorx.si registry.

Average annual growth rates of SA indicators for RA, PsA and AS by sex during two subperiods_

AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATES (%)		Calendar days	Patients	Mean days per patient	Mean episodes per patient	Mean days per episode
2001–2007
RA
	Total	1.199	−0.938	2.394	−1.317	3.505
	Men	−1.894	−3.048	1.643	−1.322	2.537
	Women	2.485	−0.049	2.790	−1.313	3.889
M05
	Total	2.735	1.741	1.617	1.744	0.741
	Men	4.160	2.731	1.613	4.707	−3.271
	Women	1.725	1.376	1.247	−1.218	1.574
M06
	Total	0.534	−1.997	2.917	−2.458	4.722
	Men	−4.746	−5.117	1.114	−3.457	3.922
	Women	2.811	−0.607	3.718	−1.458	4.958
2008–2019
RA
	Total	−3.294	−0.907	−2.527	1.723	−4.461
	Men	−6.184	−3.729	−2.469	0.984	−3.503
	Women	−2.416	0.121	−2.743	2.462	−4.905
M05
	Total	−0.049	3.714	−3.926	2.276	−6.162
	Men	−4.474	−0.312	−3.805	1.644	−5.737
	Women	1.527	4.944	−3.800	2.909	−6.030
M06
	Total	−5.585	−3.647	−1.999	1.022	−3.316
	Men	−7.427	−5.538	−2.053	0.413	−2.404
	Women	−5.178	−2.853	−2.349	1.631	−3.973
2001–2010
PsA
	Total	1.980	1.273	2.397	−3.494	4.600
	Men	1.179	0.037	3.824	−4.940	6.263
	Women	3.256	2.912	0.554	−2.050	2.410
AS
	Total	4.476	0.704	5.395	−2.218	6.064
	Men	2.654	0.067	3.742	−2.065	4.726
	Women	9.351	2.306	8.599	−2.372	9.452
2011–2019
PsA
	Total	0.397	0.729	0.770	0.247	−0.628
	Men	−8.155	−3.651	−3.055	−1.072	−3.648
	Women	7.963	4.798	3.527	1.565	1.420
AS
	Total	8.725	8.637	0.270	0.786	−0.426
	Men	7.662	6.159	1.867	−0.395	1.817
	Women	10.094	11.932	−1.881	1.967	−3.462

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2026-0015 | Journal eISSN: 1854-2476 | Journal ISSN: 0351-0026

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Language: English

Page range: 122 - 131

Submitted on: Nov 19, 2025

Accepted on: Apr 21, 2026

Published on: Jun 1, 2026

Published by: National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

Related subjects:

Hygiene and environmental medicine

© 2026 Mitja Oblak, Aleša Lotrič Dolinar, Žiga Rotar, Matija Tomšič, Petra Došenović Bonča, published by National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 65 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)

The Societal and Patient-Level Burden of Sickness Absenteeism in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis Across Two Decades in Slovenia

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Average annual growth rates of SA indicators for RA, PsA and AS by sex during two subperiods_

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