title: The impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on work loss in the United States.
abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a rapidly growing public health problem in the United States and elsewhere. Although direct costs of COPD are well documented, the impact of COPD and its severity on labor force participation is not well known. Using population-based data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), we determined the adjusted relationship between COPD (and its severity) and labor force participation in the U.S. We used data from 12,436 participants involved in NHANES III; 1,073 of these participants (8.6% of the total) reported COPD. These participants were 3.9% (95% confidence interval, 1.3% to 6.4%) less likely to be in the labor force than those without COPD. Increasing severity of COPD was associated with decreased probability of being in the labor force (p for linear trend = 0.001). Mild, moderate, and severe COPD was associated with a 3.4%, 3.9%, and 14.4% reduction in the labor force participation rate relative to those without COPD. These data suggest that COPD has a considerable adverse impact on work force participation. Based on these data, we estimate that, in 1994, COPD was responsible for work loss of approximately $9.9 billion in the U.S.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine (Pulmonary Division), Institute of Health Economics, 2E4.29 Walter C. Mackenzie Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2B7 Canada. don.sin@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Don D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Sin
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stafinski
authors.forename: Ying Chu
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Neil R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013147:Spirometry; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014797:Vital Capacity