| Abstract: | In his article Employment of Diabetics John Lister (1982) concludedthat most diabetics are able to follow any occupation and thatthe majority of diabetics are reliable employees with good attendancerecords. This study summarizes the work experience of a groupof 50 diabetic employees who were identified in one Region ofthe Post Office. Their sickness absence records for a 5-yearperiod were compared with a matched, randomly selected controlgroup and with regional and national postal sickness absencefigures for the 4 years for which these are available. In oneof the study years, the diabetic group experienced fewer daysabsence per person per year than the national figures. Overthe whole study period the diabetic group experienced a greaternumber of spells and days of absence than the control group. This paper is the first of a series of three. The second paperdescribes the use of a questionnaire to obtain further informationon the range of duties being performed by diabetic employeesand gives some indications of the employment problems facingthis group. The final paper describes an investigation intomedical retirement and a mortality study of diabetic employeesover the period 1975–1984. Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Dr R. A. Welch, The Post Office, Charles House, St Peters Street, Colchester CO1 1EP. |
