Trends in diabetes-related sickness absence and social insurance costs in Poland: a national registry-based study, 2020–2024
- 1School of Public Health, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education
Abstract
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is recognized as a major contributor to productivity losses, yet nationwide evidence on diabetes-related sickness absence in Central and Eastern Europe has been limited. This study was designed to characterize trends in sickness absence and rehabilitation benefits due to type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Poland between 2020 and 2024 using national social insurance registry data.
Methods: All sickness absence and rehabilitation benefit certificates issued in 2020–2024 for adults covered by the Polish Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) were analyzed, with diabetes identified by ICD-10 codes E10 (type 1) and E11 (type 2). Annual numbers of certificates, total days of absence, crude rates per 100,000 population, and social insurance expenditures in PLN and EUR were calculated and stratified by sex, age group and region.
Results: Among 16.6 million insured adults, days of sickness absence due to type 1 diabetes were reduced from 300,387 in 2020 to 232,976 in 2024 (−22.4%), while those due to type 2 diabetes were reduced from 520,090 to 488,531 (−6.1%). Between 2020 and 2024, the reduction in type 2 diabetes—related absence was driven mainly by women (−20.2%), whereas only a marginal decline was observed among men (−1.5%). Despite these declines in days of absence, yearly social insurance expenditures were increased by 16.1% for type 1 diabetes and by 39.8% for type 2 diabetes, reaching approximately 6.44 and 15.03 million EUR in 2024, respectively, with up to four-fifths of total costs being attributed to men. Marked regional variation was observed, with voivodeship-level rates differing by more than twofold and rising diabetes-related absence being recorded in some regions despite national declines.
Conclusions: In Poland, diabetes-related sickness absence declined between 2020 and 2024, while social insurance expenditures increased substantially, particularly for type 2 diabetes and among men. These findings highlight the need for targeted workplace and clinical interventions.
Related
- Regional disparities in lung cancer surgery and survival in South Korea: a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study using linked cancer registry and national health insurance data
- Impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD): a study from the Australian National CHD Registry.
- Navigating the kidney disease care cascade in type 2 diabetes: insights from the national diabetes registry.
- Rising active surveillance/observation rates and regimen intensification in young men: A retrospective cohort study of national commercial health insurance claims data
- Trends and burden of occupational noise-induced hearing loss in Türkiye: evidence from the national occupational disease registry
BibTeX
@article{winciunas2026trends,
title = {{Trends in diabetes-related sickness absence and social insurance costs in Poland: a national registry-based study, 2020–2024}},
author = {Piotr Artur Winciunas and Kuba Sękowski and Agnieszka Mazurek and Wojciech S. Zgliczyński and Mateusz Jankowski and Justyna Grudziąż-Sękowska},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1903345},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1903345/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Trends in diabetes-related sickness absence and social insurance costs in Poland: a national registry-based study, 2020–2024
AU - Piotr Artur Winciunas
AU - Kuba Sękowski
AU - Agnieszka Mazurek
AU - Wojciech S. Zgliczyński
AU - Mateusz Jankowski
AU - Justyna Grudziąż-Sękowska
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1903345
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1903345/full
AB - Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is recognized as a major contributor to productivity losses, yet nationwide evidence on diabetes-related sickness absence in Central and Eastern Europe has been limited. This study was designed to characterize trends in sickness absence and rehabilitation benefits due to type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Poland between 2020 and 2024 using national social insurance registry data. Methods: All sickness absence and rehabilitation benefit certificates issued in 2020–2024 for adults covered by the Polish Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) were analyzed, with diabetes identified by ICD-10 codes E10 (type 1) and E11 (type 2). Annual numbers of certificates, total days of absence, crude rates per 100,000 population, and social insurance expenditures in PLN and EUR were calculated and stratified by sex, age group and region. Results: Among 16.6 million insured adults, days of sickness absence due to type 1 diabetes were reduced from 300,387 in 2020 to 232,976 in 2024 (−22.4%), while those due to type 2 diabetes were reduced from 520,090 to 488,531 (−6.1%). Between 2020 and 2024, the reduction in type 2 diabetes—related absence was driven mainly by women (−20.2%), whereas only a marginal decline was observed among men (−1.5%). Despite these declines in days of absence, yearly social insurance expenditures were increased by 16.1% for type 1 diabetes and by 39.8% for type 2 diabetes, reaching approximately 6.44 and 15.03 million EUR in 2024, respectively, with up to four-fifths of total costs being attributed to men. Marked regional variation was observed, with voivodeship-level rates differing by more than twofold and rising diabetes-related absence being recorded in some regions despite national declines. Conclusions: In Poland, diabetes-related sickness absence declined between 2020 and 2024, while social insurance expenditures increased substantially, particularly for type 2 diabetes and among men. These findings highlight the need for targeted workplace and clinical interventions.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -