Highlights
- •Influenza-like illness (ILI) presenteeism puts patients and health care workers at risk.
- •In this study, 54% of trainees and 26% of program leaders cited ILI presenteeism.
- •Only 9% of program leaders accurately estimated trainee ILI presenteeism prevalence.
- •Accountability to colleagues is the primary reason cited for ILI presenteeism.
- •Cultural change should augment safety and prevention practices in training programs.
Background
Working with influenza-like illness (ILI) is pervasive throughout health care. We
assessed knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding ILI presenteeism of both postgraduate
trainees and program leaders.
Methods
This survey study was conducted at the Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein
College of Medicine, a large academic center in the Bronx, New York. Internal medicine
and subspecialty house staff and program directors completed an anonymous electronic
survey between April 23 and June 15, 2018.
Results
A total of 197 of 400 (49%) house staff and 23 of 39 (59%) program leaders participated;
107 (54%) trainees and 6 (26%) program leaders self-reported ILI presenteeism in the
past 12 months. More than 90% of trainees and program leaders reported that ILI presenteeism
places others at risk. Only 9% of program leaders accurately estimated trainee ILI
presenteeism prevalence. Both cited “not wanting to burden colleagues” as the top
reason for ILI presenteeism. Twenty-six (24%) trainees practiced ILI presenteeism
on critical care units. The majority reported that they would provide patient care
with upper respiratory symptoms without fever. Most trainees incorrectly answered
influenza knowledge questions.
Conclusions
ILI presenteeism prevalence is high within training programs at our medical center.
Program leaders can model best practices, enforce nonpunitive sick-leave policies,
and ensure infection prevention competencies are met annually.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 18, 2019
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
