Health Risk Change as a Predictor of Productivity Change

Fifty Observations About the Health Promotion Discipline: Ambitions, Polemics and Inspiration (Part Two)

In part one of this editorial covering fifty observations about the history and evolution of the health promotion discipline I shared twenty five observations relating to societal trends, definitional nuances and seminal studies and resources that have contributed to the trajectory of the field. In this, part two of the editorial, I list an additional twenty five observations focused on polemics and controversies and on the importance of effective teaching, research and writing. I reflect on the different approaches used by public sector and private sector health promotion experts respectively. I also share inspirational quotes that I consider closely aligned with the vision and mission of our profession.

Productivity in older versus younger workers: A systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Worldwide ageing and thus, workforce ageing, is a concern for both developed and developing nations.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the current research was to determine, through a systematic literature review, the effects of age in three dimensions that are often used to define or assess productivity at work.

METHODS

PICO framework was used to generate search strategies, inclusion criteria and terms. Scopus and PubMed databases were used. Peer-reviewed journal papers written in English and published (or in press) between January 2014 and December 2018 were included.

RESULTS

After filtering through inclusion criteria, 74 papers were included in the review. Considering productivity, 41%of the findings showed no differences between younger and older workers, 31%report better productivity of younger workers and 28%reported that older workers had better productivity than younger workers. Performance was better in older workers (58%), presenteeism generally showed no significant differences between age groups (61%). Absenteeism was the only outcome where younger workers outperformed older workers (43%).

CONCLUSION

Overall, there was no difference in productivity between older and younger workers. Older workers performed better than younger workers, but had more absenteeism, while presenteeism showed no differences. As ageing has come to workplaces, holistic approaches addressing total health are suggested to overcome the worldwide workforce ageing phenomenon.

Work Productivity Losses and Associated Risk Factors Among University Employees in the CAMMPUS Wellness Program

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to comprehensively measure work productivity losses of employees enrolled in a pharmacist-led wellness program and assess associated risk factors.

METHODS

The study sample was employees at least 18 years old with a Framingham Risk Score (FRS) at least 10% or 1+ medication-modifiable cardiovascular risk factor (196 participants at baseline and 166 at 12-month endpoint). Total work hour losses (WHL) were measured using the Valuation of Lost Productivity questionnaire. The factors anticipated to be associated with WHL included work habits, FRS, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

RESULTS

Sedentary work habits, higher BMI, and lower HRQoL were significantly associated with more WHL for males. Among females, only a lower HRQoL was significantly associated with more WHL.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings help identify employees at greater risk for WHL and provide insights on how workplace wellness programs can be modified.

The relationship between diabetes, diabetes-related complications and productive activities among older Europeans

AIMS

To assess the impact of diabetes and diabetes-related complications on two measures of productivity for people in the labour force and out of it, namely "being afraid health limits ability to work before retirement" and "volunteering".

METHODS AND DATA

Logistic regressions were run to test the impact of diabetes and its complications on the probability of being afraid health limits work and being a formal volunteer. The longitudinal sample for the former outcome includes 53,631 observations, clustered in 34,393 individuals, aged 50-65 years old whereas the latter consists of 45,384 observations, grouped in 29,104 individuals aged 65 and above across twelve European countries taken from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, from 2006 to 2013.

RESULTS

Diabetes increased the probability of being afraid health limited work by nearly 11% points, adjusted by clinical complications, and reduced the likelihood of being a formal volunteer by 2.7% points, additionally adjusted by mobility problems. We also found that both the probability of being afraid health limits work and the probability of being a formal volunteer increased during and after the crisis. Moreover, having diabetes had a larger effect on being afraid health limits work during the year 2010, possibly related to the financial crisis.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show that diabetes significantly affects the perception of people regarding the effects of their condition on work, increasing the fear that health limits their ability to work, especially during the crisis year 2010, as well as the participation in volunteering work among retired people.

Self-Care Posters Serve as a Low-Cost Option for Physical Activity Promotion of Hospital Nurses

Hospital nurses play an important role in the nation's short- and long-term patient care. At the same time, nurses often experience high levels of occupational stress and participate in low levels of physical activity (PA). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of self-monitoring and a poster campaign on the PA behaviors of hospital nurses. Motivational and instructional exercise posters were hung in break rooms of experimental units and replaced biweekly for 8 weeks. A total of 26 nurses (control: n = 13; experimental: n = 13) wore accelerometers for 3 workdays pre-, mid-, and postintervention. Participants were provided a step counter at baseline and a PA report at each stage. Moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and step count (SC) increased pre- to midintervention for control (MVPA: 14.8 ± 7.6%; SC: 19.1 ± 7.8%) and experimental (MVPA: 26.7 ± 18.5%, SC: 17.6 ± 8.3%) participants. Physical activity levels returned to baseline postintervention for control ( p > .05) and increased mid- to postintervention for experimental (MVPA: 16.2 ± 5.2%, SC: 10.7 ± 4.7%, p < .05) participants. In conclusion, a low-cost, self-care poster campaign may increase PA levels of hospital nurses when combined with personalized PA feedback.

Association Between Sleep and Productivity Loss Among 598 676 Employees From Multiple Industries

PURPOSE

To examine the relationship between sleep habits and employee productivity.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional health risk assessment analysis.

SETTING

Employer-sponsored health and well-being programs.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 598 676 employed adults from multiple industries.

MEASURES

Self-reported average hours of sleep, fatigue, absence days, and presenteeism.

ANALYSIS

Bivariate analyses to assess the relationships between self-reported hours of sleep and self-reported fatigue and mean and median absence and presenteeism.

RESULTS

The relationship between sleep hours and both measures of productivity was U-shaped, with the least productivity loss among employees who reported 8 hours of sleep. More daytime fatigue correlated with more absence and presenteeism. Median absence and presenteeism was consistently lower than mean absence and presenteeism, respectively, for the various hours of sleep and levels of fatigue.

CONCLUSION

Organizations looking to expand the value of their investment in employee health and well-being should consider addressing the employee sleep habits that may be negatively impacting productivity.

Change in Psychosocial Work Factors Predicts Follow-up Employee Strain: An Examination of Australian Employees

OBJECTIVE

This research undertook a time-ordered investigation of Australian employees in regards to their experiences of change in psychosocial work factors across time (decreases, increases, or no change) in the prediction of psychological, physical, attitudinal, and behavioral employee strain.

METHODS

Six hundred and ten employees from 17 organizations participated in Time 1 and Time 2 psychosocial risk assessments (average time lag of 16.7 months). Multi-level regressions examined the extent to which change in exposure to six demands and four resources predicted employee strain at follow-up, after controlling for baseline employee strain.

RESULTS

Increases in demands and decreases in resources exacerbated employee strain, but even constant moderate demands and resources resulted in poor employee outcomes, not just constant high or low exposure, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings can help employers prioritize hazards, and guide tailored psychosocial organizational interventions.

Productivity loss and indirect costs associated with cardiovascular events and related clinical procedures

Background

The high acute costs of cardiovascular disease and acute cardiovascular events are well established, particularly in terms of direct medical costs. The costs associated with lost work productivity have been described in a broad sense, but little is known about workplace absenteeism or short term disability costs among high cardiovascular risk patients. The objective of this study was to quantify workplace absenteeism (WA) and short-term disability (STD) hours and costs associated with cardiovascular events and related clinical procedures (CVERP) in United States employees with high cardiovascular risk.

Methods

Medical, WA and/or STD data from the Truven Health MarketScan® Research Databases were used to select full-time employees aged 18–64 with hyperlipidemia during 2002–2011. Two cohorts (with and without CVERP) were created and screened for medical, drug, WA, and STD eligibility. The CVERP cohort was matched with a non-CVERP cohort using propensity score matching. Work loss hours and indirect costs were calculated for patients with and without CVERP and by CVERP type. Wages were based on the 2013 age-, gender-, and geographic region-adjusted wage rate from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Results

A total of 5,808 WA-eligible, 21,006 STD-eligible, and 3,362 combined WA and STD eligible patients with CVERP were well matched to patients without CVERP, creating three cohorts of patients with CVERP and three cohorts of patients without CVERP. Demographics were similar across cohorts (mean age 52.2-53.1 years, male 81.3-86.8 %). During the first month of follow-up, patients with CVERP had more WA/STD-related hours lost compared with patients without CVERP (WA-eligible: 23.4 more hours, STD-eligible: 51.7 more hours, WA and STD-eligible: 56.3 more hours) (p < 0.001). Corresponding costs were $683, $895, and $1,119 higher, respectively (p < 0.001). Differences narrowed with longer follow-up. In the first month and year of follow-up, patients with coronary artery bypass graft experienced the highest WA/STD-related hours lost and costs compared with patients with other CVERP.

Conclusions

CVERP were associated with substantial work loss and indirect costs. Prevention or reduction of CVERP could result in WA and STD-related cost savings for employers.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0925-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.