title: Health, absence, disability, and presenteeism cost estimates of certain physical and mental health conditions affecting U.S. employers.
abstract: Evidence about the total cost of health, absence, short-term disability, and productivity losses was synthesized for 10 health conditions. Cost estimates from a large medical/absence database were combined with findings from several published productivity surveys. Ranges of condition prevalence and associated absenteeism and presenteeism (on-the-job-productivity) losses were used to estimate condition-related costs. Based on average impairment and prevalence estimates, the overall economic burden of illness was highest for hypertension ($392 per eligible employee per year), heart disease ($368), depression and other mental illnesses ($348), and arthritis ($327). Presenteeism costs were higher than medical costs in most cases, and represented 18% to 60% of all costs for the 10 conditions. Caution is advised when interpreting any particular source of data, and the need for standardization in future research is noted.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, Cornell University, USA.
authors.forename: Ron Z
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Goetzel
authors.forename: Stacey R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Ronald J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ozminkowski
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.forename: Shaohung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics*; D004813:Epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017059:Models, Econometric; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology