Objectives Our work aims to:

- assess occupational disability for medical reasons in hospitals across the entire work stoppages substantiated by a medical certificate,

- to identify the reasons

- and describe the causes and medical certificates responsible for this phenomenon.

Method It is a descriptive epidemiological study on the whole of the medical absences reported by employees between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 in two hospitals: CHU and EHS Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Sidi-Bel-Abbes.

Support for the survey is a questionnaire completed by the doctor, it collects informations about: individual characteristics, socio-professional characteristics, and information on the declared absence (place of occurrence, the date of delivery to the employer, the type of certificate...)

- Medical causes listed according to the International Classification of Diseases (CIM 10).

Results The study population represents a workforce of 2884 employees and includes the entire staff of the CHU and EHS Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Sidi-Bel-Abbes.

We recorded 331 medical certificates off work reported by our study population. However we objectified about 3/4 of the certificates are initial certificates and 72% that are issued by the public sector.

The rate of medical absenteeism in the hospital surroundings is estimated at 7,68% with a predominance of medical absences related to illness (98%) against only 2% for those related to accidents with a male predominance (5%) containing 1% for females.

Conclusions Our results can be used in a preventive perspective to improve the professional environment and therefore reduce the incidence of medical absenteeism.