Wendy D. Lynch

The relationship between health risks and work productivity.

We sought to provide evidence for the relationship between health risks and self-reported productivity, including health-related absence and impaired performance on the job. A cross-sectional analysis was implemented consisting of 2264 employees of a large national employer located in the Northeast. Participants responded to a health risk assessment and work productivity scale. Mean productivity loss was compared for individuals with different levels of risk factors using analysis of variance. Multivariate analyses, including logistic and linear regression, were used to determine the significance of health risks on productivity loss. Participants with more risk factors reported greater productivity loss (P < 0.001). The odds of any productivity loss were most significant for individuals with diabetes (absenteeism) and stress (presenteeism). In conclusion, higher risks are strongly associated with greater productivity loss, and different risks are associated with absenteeism than with presenteeism.

The Effect of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion on Workplace Productivity: A Literature Review

This report was prepared by the Center for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in the Institute for Health and Productivity Management as part of an effort to improve understanding of the connection between employee health and performance and to begin to identify new strategies through which treating health as an investment in human capital can lead to greater business success. Computer database searches of peer-reviewed literature published between 1993 and 1998 and manual reviews of 20 journals were used to identify research on the link between employee health and performance. Data was extracted to summarize the overall findings on the magnitude of health problems addressed by health promotion and disease prevention programs, and the impact of interventions on improving health risk, reducing medical care cost, and improving worker performance. From this summary, major conclusions on early detection of disease, the impact of behavior change programs, and appropriate care-seeking were drawn. This systematic review is supplemented with summaries of 15 seminal articles and descriptions of five leading-practices programs. The influence of developments in work/family issues, complementary and alternative medicine, and quality of care and health outcomes research are briefly discussed. Finally, a conceptual framework for studying the impact of health and productivity is described.

Change in health risks and work productivity over time

We sought to examine the relationship between changes in health risks and changes in work productivity. Pre- and postanalysis was conducted on 500 subjects who participated in a wellness program at a large national employer. Change in health risks was analyzed using McNemar chi-square tests, and change in mean productivity was analyzed using paired t tests. A repeated measures regression model examined whether a change in productivity was associated with a change in health risks, controlling for age and gender. Individuals who reduced one health risk improved their presenteeism by 9% and reduced absenteeism by 2%, controlling for baseline risk level, age, gender, and interaction of baseline risk and risk change. In conclusion, reductions in health risks are associated with positive changes in work productivity. Self-reported work productivity may have utility in the evaluation of health promotion programs.

Prevalence of Arthritis and Associated Joint Disorders in an Employed Population and the Associated Healthcare, Sick Leave, Disability, and Workers’ Compensation Benefits Cost and Productivity Loss for Employers

Learning ObjectivesRecall the prevalence and demographic correlates of arthritis and associated joint disorders (AJD) in this large-scale employee study.Describe any differences in comorbidity and the use of health care services between employees with and those without AJD.Contrast the AJD and non-AJD groups with regard to health care costs, disability and workers’ compensation claims, and productivity. Arthritis is a common condition among the working population in the United States. Despite its high prevalence, the total cost of arthritis from the employer perspective has not been fully evaluated. This study quantifies the employer cost for additional health care, absence, disability, productivity, and workers’ compensation costs related to arthritis and associated joint disorders (AJD) for a large sample of employees over 4 years. Results showed that AJD affected 15.5% of the employee population at some time. After adjusting for confounding factors, employees with AJD had significantly higher costs for health care (

Impact of a facility-based corporate fitness program on the number of absences from work due to illness

998), prescription drug (

Burden of fibromyalgia and comparisons with osteoarthritis in the workforce.

195), absence (

Demand management: enabling patients to use medical care appropriately.

84), short-term disability (

The relationship between retrospective health insurance claims and a health risk appraisal-generated measure of health status

184), long-term disability (

Documenting participation in an employer-sponsored disease management program: selection, exclusion, attrition, and active engagement as possible metrics.

54), and workers’ compensation (

The association between health risks and medical expenditures in a Japanese corporation.

287); totaling