INTRODUCTION: Workers' respiratory diseases are frequently accounted for either their labor environment or sort of activity. Few studies relate them to weather conditions. OBJECTIVES: This article aims at identifying this relation by comparing sick leave rates with meteorological variables monthly averages. METHODS: Calculating statistically the correlation between sick leave and the following factors: monthly average temperatures and humidity; monthly minimum temperatures and humidity; the highest temperature drop in 24 hours in a month. A series of the best correlated meteorological data was divided into quartiles (25 %) to identify typical sick leave values in extreme temperature and humidity situations. Rates of sick leave due to respiratory diseases were determined in post-office workers in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, and meteorological data were obtained from reanalysis of numeric models. The investigated period lasted from January 2001 to December 2007, amounting to 84 months. RESULTS: As far as importance is concerned, sick leave due to respiratory diseases was mostly related to the monthly average temperature, the lowest monthly temperature and the highest monthly temperature drop. All these correlations obtained 0.1% statistical significance. Humidity has not been related to sick leave rates. CONCLUSION: The highest sick leave rates due to respiratory diseases occur mostly in the coldest and driest months of the year.
sick leave; respiratory diseases; health; temperature; humidity
