Table 1

Mean of and difference between annual recorded sickness absence (sick) days and self-reported sick days

	n	Mean annual sick days		Difference in no. sick days	% of employees with ⩽2 days discrepancy
	n	Recorded	Self-reported	Difference in no. sick days	% of employees with ⩽2 days discrepancy
Mean difference between the annual number of recorded sick days and the annual number of self-reported sick days. Positive values indicate a greater number of recorded than self-reported days.
Sex
Women	2406	12.01	10.82	1.19	60
Men	5589	5.34	5.50	−0.17	73
				p<0.001
Women
Age group (years)
35–39	568	11.21	9.66	1.56	63
40–44	556	10.20	9.98	0.22	60
45–49	544	13.80	12.15	1.64	59
50–55	738	12.68	11.37	1.31	57
				p = 0.22
Grade
Admin/prof/executive	1293	9.58	9.40	0.18	67
Clerical/support	1113	14.84	12.47	2.37	51
				p<0.001
Men
Age group (years)
35–39	1624	4.82	5.07	−0.25	73
40–44	1554	5.31	5.45	−0.14	73
45–49	1089	5.41	5.47	−0.06	73
50–55	1322	5.94	6.12	−0.18	73
				p = 0.97
Grade
Admin/prof/executive	5125	4.61	4.91	−0.30	75
Clerical/support	464	13.33	12.04	1.29	55
				p<0.001