Search Results (17)

Background: The prevalence of obesity and sleep disorders within the Italian workforce mirrors a global trend where sedentary lifestyles, poor eating habits, and elevated stress levels significantly contribute to these health issues. These conditions have profound economic implications, including rising healthcare costs and diminished productivity due to absenteeism and presenteeism, adversely affecting organizational sustainability and employee well-being. Addressing these problems necessitates a holistic approach that integrates individual health interventions, workplace policies, and broader societal changes to promote healthy lifestyles. This cross-sectional study examines the influence of obesity and insomnia, both individually and combined, on work productivity within the context of occupational health and sustainability. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 397 participants from various professions over a six-month period. Self-reported work productivity impairments were assessed using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores were utilized to evaluate obesity and insomnia levels, respectively. Results: Statistical analyses revealed a significant association of higher BMI and ISI scores with reduced work productivity. Both obesity and insomnia independently and synergistically contributed to productivity losses, with obesity exerting a more substantial effect. These findings indicate that obesity and insomnia increase presenteeism, thereby negatively impacting organizational performance and workplace sustainability. Conclusions: Our study underscores the critical impact of obesity and insomnia on work productivity and highlights the necessity of addressing these health issues not only for individual well-being but also for organizational sustainability. Integrating targeted health management strategies within workplaces to address these conditions can enhance productivity, improve employee well-being, and promote occupational health and safety. These interventions align with the current concept of sustainable work and are essential steps toward achieving sustainability in the workplace. Full article

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) present a major occupational health challenge, especially among office workers. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace intervention program for managing MSDs and measure its impact on presenteeism/absenteeism and health status. Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted between May 2019 and October 2022 in Greece and involved 247 office workers randomly assigned to early and late intervention groups. The intervention included a seminar on ergonomics and proper workstation practices with a demonstration of exercises. Data were collected by the SF-36, the Standardised Nordic, and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaires. Results: In the early intervention group (n = 143), presenteeism significantly decreased (p = 0.045), from a mean value of 0.11 to 0.07, but not absenteeism. Significant improvements were observed in physical (p = 0.007) and mental health (p = 0.012). Reductions in pain were recorded for the neck (p = 0.032), shoulders (p = 0.015), wrists (p = 0.014), upper back, lower back, hips, and knees (p = 0.044 for each). In the late intervention group (n=104), there were no significant changes in absenteeism or presenteeism. Mental health improved significantly (p = 0.008), and reductions in pain were noted for the neck (p = 0.001), wrist (p = 0.0005), and upper back (p = 0.001). Conclusions: This workplace intervention program proved effective both in reducing pain in various body areas and reducing presenteeism, and improved physical and mental health were observed in the intervention groups while absenteeism remained unchanged. Full article

With the increasing penetration of digital technologies into health management, digital health interventions in workplaces have been subject to substantial interest. These interventions aim to enhance employee well-being, minimize absenteeism and presenteeism, and augment organizational productivity. This paper carries out a systematic review focusing on the key characteristics of effective digital health interventions designed to enhance health-related outcomes within workplace settings and evaluates their implications for prospective implementation in the workplace. According to PRISMA guidelines, the current systematic review adopted the most appropriate methods to retrieve studies from PubMed, covering interventions that included cognitive-behavioral therapy apps, software that reduces sedentary behaviors, virtual reality for well-being, and comprehensive health programs. The studies’ quality was assessed through standardized tools with a preference for randomized control trials and mixed-methods research. It was found that digital health interventions positively impact mental health, physical activity, and well-being. However, limitations were found due to self-reported data and potential biases. This review identified long-term effectiveness, objective outcome measures, and cost-effectiveness as areas for future research. Digital health interventions hold promise in enhancing workplace health strategies, as they offer scalable, personalized, cost-effective solutions. However, critically relevant research gaps have to be faced to integrate these successfully and exploit their real potential in organizational health strategies. Full article

Background. There is sufficient scientific literature on the effectiveness of registered vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection, but research on the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination program on social and economic aspects is lacking. In connection with the above, this study aimed to assess the impact of vaccinations on presenteeism and absenteeism among healthcare professionals in the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. A post-marketing, cross-sectional survey-based study was carried out on a sample of 736 actively employed healthcare professionals. Among them, 215 individuals (29.21%) were unvaccinated (control group). The study group consisted of 521 vaccinated respondents, with 52.97% being women and 47.03% men. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and delivered online to the target population group of healthcare workers. Results. A significant association (p < 0.01) was observed between the number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine received and presenteeism among the respondents. Among the unvaccinated respondents (2.30 ± 1.19) or those vaccinated with only one dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (2.16 ± 1.11), the COVID-19 pandemic had a significantly higher impact on work performance compared to individuals vaccinated with three doses of the vaccine (1.19 ± 1.11). Moreover, a significant association was found (p = 0.0265) between the number of workdays missed (over the last twelve months) due to COVID-19-related sick leave and the number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine received. The number of workdays missed due to COVID-19 sick leave was lowest in the group vaccinated with three doses (2.00 ± 6.75) and highest in the unvaccinated group (5.32 ± 16.24). Conclusions. Our results clearly show that the widely implemented national COVID-19 vaccination program brings tangible benefits both in medical and economic terms. The extent of reducing absenteeism and presenteeism caused by the coronavirus disease depended on the number of vaccine doses administered. Full article

The main purpose of this article is to present a systematic literature review of socioeconomic issues such as employee productivity, workplace absenteeism, workplace presenteeism, productivity loss, and indirect costs among employees with different impairments/disabilities. The related articles were obtained from the Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) databases. In general, 568 studies were found. A total of 141 articles were identified as open-access and non-duplicate articles in English in which disability-related issues among employees were raised. Ultimately, only 22 studies were selected for analysis since they were concerning socioeconomic issues associated with productivity and job performance among employees with various impairments. Based on the studies, workplace performance among employees with and without disabilities was almost equal. Workplace absenteeism and short-term disability costs were higher among employees with acromegaly, migraine, gout, depression, cardiovascular events and related clinical procedures, chronic diseases, and metastatic breast cancer. Mood disorders, heart diseases, and bowel disorders were the principal causes of absenteeism among employees with chronic conditions. Productivity loss was higher among employees with depression, psoriatic arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic migraine disease, and employees who received injectable multiple myeloma therapy. Worsening physical health, more functional disabilities, poorer relations with a supervisor, recurrent sick leave, back problems, mood disorders, migraine, and fatigue were the primary reasons for lost productivity. Full article

Workplace accommodations can improve work functioning for employees with mental health concerns, yet few employees receive accommodations. The current study examined the benefits of providing education on workplace accommodations. In total, 89 participants with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were randomized to an online psychoeducation course or wait-list control (WLC). The course provided education on symptoms, accommodations, tips for requesting accommodations and making disclosures, and coping strategies. Primary outcomes included the impact of the course on requesting and receiving accommodations, accommodation knowledge, self-stigma, and workplace relationships at 8 weeks post-randomization. Additional analyses examined the impact of the course on symptoms, absenteeism, presenteeism, and self-efficacy and whether supervisory leadership and organizational inclusivity impact disclosure and accommodation use. Participants in the course reported improvements in accommodation knowledge, self-efficacy, and presenteeism compared to the WLC. Both groups reported reduced self-stigma and increased disclosures over time. Specifically, partial disclosures were associated with supportive organizations and supervisors. No group differences were found on accommodation use, symptoms, workplace relationships, or comfort with disclosure. Few participants made accommodation requests, therefore a statistical analysis on requesting or receiving accommodations was not performed. Overall, providing psychoeducation has the potential to assist individuals with depression and anxiety who may require workplace accommodations, but further research is required. Full article

The aim of this scoping review was to identify effective workplace programs for work ability and well-being management and its barriers and facilitators in multinational organizations. The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched from 1974 through February 2023 to identify quantitative and qualitative studies on the management of work ability and well-being, and related outcomes including presenteeism, absenteeism, productivity loss, and healthy practices, conducted in a multinational organization or company. The titles and abstracts of over 11,000 publications were screened, and 10 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in the review. The management of work ability and well-being in multinational companies requires leadership support and commitment, effective communication, employee health awareness and engagement, comprehensive personalized health risk and condition assessments, and the management of risk factors and occupational and non-occupational health conditions. Financial constraints, high workloads, competing priorities, a lack of effective communication, a lack of worksite managers’ motivation, employees’ language barriers, high worksite managers’ turnover, and a decline in the support of senior managers are considered as barriers, and the presence of existing participatory practices is considered as a facilitator of participation in workplace health and well-being interventions in multinational companies. This review suggests that the management of work ability and well-being in multinational companies should go beyond health promotion and include comprehensive personalized health risk and health condition assessments and management. Full article

Introduction: Sickness presence is used to denote an employee who feels unwell but still attends work, thus avoiding absence. The intention of this paper is to compare sickness presence in a group of the following professions: teachers, nurses and private sector office workers. Material and methods: For the purpose of this study, a survey based on the original PAPI form (Paper-and-Pen Personal Interview) was carried out. Non-probability sampling, the snowball method (N = 507: teachers n = 174, nurses n = 165 and private sector office workers n = 168), covering the whole of Poland, was adopted. Non-parametric hypotheses were verified using the chi-squared test with a statistical significance α = 0.05. Results: Compared to nurses and private sector office workers, teachers more frequently attended work when sick (p < 0.05). Out of the reported ailments that respondents worked with, teachers more often indicated rhinitis (p < 0.05), sore throat and cough (p < 0.05) and increased temperature (p < 0.05). This may be associated with a threat to the health of individuals in their charge. Teachers commonly complained about joint and bone pain (p < 0.05) and gastrointestinal disorders (p < 0.05). Contrary to nurses and private sector office workers, teachers did not point to ‘lack of a replacement’ as the reason for their presence at work when sick (p < 0.05). Exclusively, teachers added financial issues and difficulties in access to healthcare if they are working fewer hours to the list of reasons for attending work when sick. Conclusions: Results suggest that there is a need for further studies on the presence of sick employees in the workplace, especially for teachers. The sickness presence of teachers and nurses may be a threat from a public health perspective. The workplace itself is a significant place to prevent many diseases. Full article

Sufficient knowledge on the work productivity impact of the health of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers in the mining sector in Australia is lacking. This study examined the impact of health and lifestyle behaviours on the work productivity of FIFO workers in the mining industry in Australia. FIFO workers completed an online questionnaire on health and work productivity loss measures. Linear regressions were used to model annual work productivity losses through absenteeism, presenteeism and total productivity loss. Workers with a high risk for health conditions were, on average, associated with 3.87% more productivity loss (absenteeism: 1.27% and presenteeism: 2.88%) than those with low risk. Workers who had multiple health risks classified as medium (3–4 health conditions) and high (5 or more health conditions) reported 1.75% and 7.46% more total productivity loss, respectively, than those with fewer multiple health risks (0–2 health conditions). Health conditions were estimated to account for an annual additional productivity cost due to absenteeism of AUD 8.82 million, presenteeism of AUD 14.08 million and a total productivity loss of AUD 20.96 million per 1000 workers. FIFO workers with high health risks experience more absenteeism, presenteeism and overall productivity loss. These measures provide strong economic justifications that could support the need for targeted workplace health interventions. Full article

In developed countries, population aging due to advances in living standards and healthcare infrastructure means that the care associated with chronic and degenerative diseases is becoming more prevalent across all facets of society—including the labour market. Informal caregiving, that is, care provision performed by friends and family, is expected to increase in the near future in Canada, with implications for workplaces. Absenteeism, presenteeism, work satisfaction and retention are known to be worse in employees who juggle the dual role of caregiving and paid employment, representing losses to workplaces’ bottom line. Recent discourse on addressing the needs of carer-employees (CEs) in the workplace have been centred around carer-friendly workplace policies. This paper aims to assess the potential cost implication of a carer-friendly workplace intervention implemented within a large-sized Canadian workplace. The goal of the intervention was to induce carer-friendly workplace culture change. A workplace-wide survey was circulated twice, prior to and after the intervention, capturing demographic variables, as well as absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover and impact on coworkers. Utilizing the pre-intervention timepoint as a baseline, we employed a cost implication analysis to quantify the immediate impact of the intervention from the employer’s perspective. We found that the intervention overall was not cost-saving, although there were some mixed effects regarding some costs, such as absenteeism. Non-tangible benefits, such as changes to employee morale, satisfaction with supervisor, job satisfaction and work culture, were not monetarily quantified within this analysis; hence, we consider it to be a conservative analysis. Full article

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors related to absenteeism and presenteeism in workers and to provide basic evidence to help improve their quality of life and work productivity. Methods: Data from the Fourth Korea working condition survey were analyzed. A stepwise regression model was developed to identify the related factors for exploratory analysis. Results: Absenteeism and subjective risk perception related to work and health conditions were the strongest predictive factors, followed by presenteeism. Fatigue was the strongest predictive factor for presenteeism, followed by a high temperature at the workplace, lower back pain, and other health conditions, in that order. Conclusion: The quality of life and the productivity of workers could be improved by focusing on the factors affecting absenteeism and presenteeism, such as the working environment and health status. Full article

Women are exposed to increased burden of mental disorders during the perinatal period: 13–19% experience postpartum depression. Perinatal psychological suffering affects early mother-child relationship, impacting child’s emotional and cognitive development. Return-to-work brings additional vulnerability given the required balance between parenting and job demands. The MAternal Mental Health in the WORKplace (MAMH@WORK) project aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a brief and sustainable intervention, promoting (a) maternal mental health throughout pregnancy and first 12 months after delivery, and (b) quality of mother–child interactions, child emotional self-regulation, and cognitive self-control, while (c) reducing perinatal absenteeism and presenteeism. MAMH@WORK is a three-arm randomized controlled trial. A short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy-based (CBT-based) psychoeducation plus biofeedback intervention will be implemented by psychiatrists and psychologists, following a standardized procedure manual developed after consensus (Delphi method). Participants (n = 225, primiparous, singleton pregnant women at 28–30 weeks gestational age, aged 18–40 years, employed) will be randomly allocated to arms: CBT-based psychoeducation intervention (including mindfulness); psychoeducation plus biofeedback intervention; and control. Assessments will take place before and after delivery. Main outcomes (and main tools): mental health literacy (MHLS), psychological wellbeing (HADS, EPDS, KBS, CD-RISC, BRIEF COPE), quality of mother–child interaction, child–mother attachment, child emotional self-regulation and cognitive self-control (including PBQ, Strange Situation Procedure, QDIBRB, SGS-II, CARE-Index), job engagement (UWES), and presenteeism. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses will be conducted; Cohen’s d coefficient, Cramer’s V and odds ratio will be used to assess the effect size of the intervention. MAMH@WORK is expected to contribute to mental health promotion during the perinatal period and beyond. Its results have the potential to inform health policies regarding work–life balance and maternal mental health and wellbeing promotion in the workplace. Full article

This study conducted a cost and cost-benefit analysis of the Stand More AT (SMArT) Work workplace intervention, designed to reduce sitting time. The study was a cluster two-armed randomised controlled trial involving 37 office clusters (146 desk-based workers) in a National Health Service Trust. The intervention group received a height-adjustable workstation with supporting behaviour change strategies. The control group continued with usual practice. Self-report absenteeism, presenteeism and work productivity were assessed at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months; and organisational sickness absence records 12 months prior to, and 12 months of the intervention. Mean per employee costs associated with SMArT Work were calculated. Absenteeism, presenteeism and work productivity were estimated, and employer-recorded absence data and employee wage-banding were used to provide a human-capital-based estimate of costs to the organisation. The return-on-investment (ROI) and incremental cost-efficacy ratios (ICER) were calculated. Intervention cost was £692.40 per employee. Cost-benefit estimates show a net saving of £1770.32 (95%CI £-354.40, £3895.04) per employee as a result of productivity increase. There were no significant differences in absence data compared to the control group. SMArT Work provides supporting evidence for policy-makers and employers on the cost benefits of reducing sitting time at work. Full article

The economic burden of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on society is high. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are the cornerstone of therapy. Biological DMARDs are reported to prevent disability and improve quality of life, thus reducing indirect RA costs. We systematically reviewed studies on the relationship between RA and indirect costs comparing biological treatment with standard care. Studies, economic analyses, and systematic reviews published until October 2018 through a MEDLINE search were included. A total of 153 non-duplicate citations were identified, 92 (60%) were excluded as they did not meet pre-defined inclusion criteria. Sixty-one articles were included, 17 of them (28%) were reviews. After full-text review, 28 articles were included, 11 of them were reviews. Costs associated with productivity loss are substantial; in several cases, they may represent over 50% of the total. The most common method of estimation is the Human Capital method. However, certain heterogeneity is observed in the method of estimating, as well as in the resultant figures. Data from included trials indicate that biological therapy is associated with improved labor force participation despite an illness, in which the natural course of disease is defined by progressive work impairment. Use of biological DMARDs may lead to significant indirect cost benefits to society. Full article

Background: The number of people living with one or more chronic diseases (e.g., neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic disorders) has dramatically increased in recent decades, affecting all sectors, including the social and economic aspects of the work sector. In the frame of the European Union (EU) Joint Action “Chrodis Plus: Implementing good practices for chronic diseases”, a review has been performed in order to identify and analyze existing training tools for employers, including managers and Human Resources Staff (HRs), which aimed at creating and fostering inclusive and supportive workplaces for workers with chronic conditions and to avoid absenteeism, presenteeism, and early retirement. Methods: The training tools were identified through a revision of online published materials through Google Scholar and internet searches, published since 2006, in English, Italian, and Spanish. Results: The mapping of existing training tools highlighted the existence of two types of training tools: the first type includes those implemented by Social and Institutional Organizations (e.g., Patients’ Associations, Ministries, Unions), external to the company; the second involves those implemented by Large Multinational Enterprises. Conclusions: to promote an effective and concrete inclusion and participation of employees that are affected by chronic diseases in the labor market is necessary to involve employers and managers in training programs. Full article