Biomedical subjects

Judith A Ricci

Publications and source records attributed to Judith A Ricci.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Fatigue in the U.S. workforce: prevalence and implications for lost productive work time.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate fatigue prevalence and associated health-related lost productive time (LPT) in U.S. workers. METHODS: Fatigue prevalence, LPT due to fatigue, and LPT for any health-related reason (in hours and dollars) were measured in a national cross-sectional telephone survey of U.S. workers. RESULTS: The 2-week period prevalence of fatigue was 37.9%. Of workers with fatigue, 65.7% reported health-related LPT compared with 26.4% of those without fatigue. Workers with fatigue cost employers 136.4 billion dollars annually in health-related LPT, an excess of 101.0 billion dollars compared with workers without fatigue. Fatigue frequently co-occurs with other conditions and, when present, is associated with a threefold increase, on average, in the proportion of workers with condition-specific LPT. CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue is prevalent in the U.S. workforce. When occurring with other health conditions, it is associated with significantly more condition-specific LPT.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Back pain exacerbations and lost productive time costs in United States workers.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional with follow-up case-control component. OBJECTIVES: To measure the prevalence of back pain (BP) and back pain exacerbations, describe BP features and functional impairment, estimate BP-related lost productive time (LPT) and costs, and assess the relation between pain exacerbations and lost productive time. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: BP is associated with substantial lost work time. However, little is known about the extent to which BP with or without exacerbation explains lost work time. METHODS: A national telephone survey of the U.S. workforce identified 320 workers 40 to 65 years of age with BP defined by NHANES I criteria and 91 matched non-BP controls. Participants self-reported pain characteristics, lost productive time (absenteeism and presenteeism) in the previous 2 weeks, activity limitations, and demographics. A population-weighting adjustment was applied to estimates to account for selection bias and ensure that estimates of certain sample demographic subgroups' totals conformed to the Current Population Survey. RESULTS: The 2-week period prevalence of BP was 15.1%; 42% of workers with BP experienced pain exacerbations. BP prevalence was associated with demographic factors, but BP exacerbations were not. BP was reported by 42.6% of all workers. Workers with exacerbations reported more days with BP than those without exacerbations. Workers with exacerbations were significantly more likely than those without such exacerbations to report activity limitation (88.4% vs. 60.7%; P < 0.0001) and BP-related LPT (22.1% vs. 13.0%; P = 0.0259). BP in workers 40 to 65 years of age costs employers an estimated $7.4 billion/year. Workers with BP exacerbations account for 71.6% of this cost. CONCLUSIONS: Workers with BP exacerbations account for a disproportionate share of the cost of BP-related lost productive time.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2005

Pain exacerbation as a major source of lost productive time in US workers with arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of arthritis and arthritis pain exacerbations in US workers including impact on functioning and lost productive work time (LPT). METHODS: The research was conducted as a nested case-control study of participants in the Caremark American Productivity Audit, a US national random-digit-dial survey of US workers. The sample included 329 workers ages 40-65 years meeting the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey criteria for arthritis, and 91 workers not meeting arthritis inclusion criteria. Participants completed a telephone interview to measure the prevalence of arthritis and pain exacerbations, LPT (in hours and dollars), functional disability using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and the Australian/Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index, and demographics. RESULTS: The prevalence of arthritis in US workers ages 40-65 years was 14.7% during the 2-week period. Pain exacerbation occurred among 38% of participants with arthritis. Workers with pain exacerbations were significantly more likely to have higher WOMAC scores (38.6 versus 29.6; P = 0.0041) and report arthritis-related LPT (24.4% versus 13.3%; P = 0.0118) than workers without exacerbations. Among those with LPT, average LPT did not differ (4.1 hours per week) between persons with and without exacerbations. The estimated annual LPT cost from arthritis in the US workforce was $7.11 billion, with 65.7% of this cost attributed to the 38% of workers with pain exacerbations. CONCLUSION: Workers with arthritis pain exacerbation account for a disproportionate share of the arthritis-related LPT cost. Stratifying workers for appropriate treatment management based on pain exacerbation status could significantly decrease arthritis-related LPT and offer employees and employers an effective return on health care use.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2005

Lost productive time associated with excess weight in the U.S. workforce.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine health-related lost productive time (LPT) in overweight and obese workers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using data from a national telephone survey of the U.S. workforce. Body mass index defined normal-weight, overweight, and obese workers. LPT in hours and dollars was compared among the three groups. RESULTS: Obese workers (42.3%) were significantly (P<0.0001) more likely to report LPT in the previous 2 weeks than normal-weight (36.4%) or overweight workers (34.7%). Health status mediated the relation between obesity and LPT. Obese workers cost an estimated $42.29 billion in LPT, an excess of $11.70 billion compared with normal-weight workers. Presenteeism accounted for 67.8% of the cost. Comparatively, overweight workers were not a significant source of excess LPT. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing excess weight in the workforce and improving the health of obese workers could positively impact U.S. workforce productivity.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2004

Health-related lost productive time (LPT): recall interval and bias in LPT estimates.

We examined the effect of interview characteristics (ie, recall interval, interview version) on estimates of health-related lost productive work time (LPT). Three versions of a telephone interview were administered using 7-day and 4-week recall periods. In a population-based survey, 7674 workers randomly were assigned to one of six interviews at contact; 615 participants received a follow-up interview. We found strong evidence of under-reporting using a 4-week recall period and a not significant trend in over-reporting LPT using a 7-day recall period. Of the three interviews, version 3 could be administered most quickly, on average, and yielded the most discriminating estimates of LPT by health condition (ie, headache, allergic rhinitis, and cold/flu). Our data suggest that variation in relatively short recall periods influences estimates of health-related LPT. A 2-week recall period may be optimal for minimizing overall reporting error but requires additional research to verify.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Validation of the work and health interview.

BACKGROUND: Instruments that measure the impact of illness on work do not usually provide a measure that can be directly translated into lost hours or costs. We describe the validation of the Work and Health Interview (WHI), a questionnaire that provides a measure of lost productive time (LPT) from work absence and reduced performance at work. METHOD: A sample (n = 67) of inbound phone call agents was recruited for the study. Validity of the WHI was assessed over a 2-week period in reference to workplace data (i.e. absence time, time away from call station and electronic continuous performance) and repeated electronic diary data (n = 48) obtained approximately eight times a day to estimate time not working (i.e. a component of reduced performance). RESULTS: The mean (median) missed work time estimate for any reason was 11 (8.0) and 12.9 (8.0) hours in a 2-week period from the WHI and workplace data, respectively, with a Pearson's (Spearman's) correlation of 0.84 (0.76). The diary-based mean (median) estimate of time not working while at work was 3.9 (2.8) hours compared with the WHI estimate of 5.7 (3.2) hours with a Pearson's (Spearman's) correlation of 0.19 (0.33). The 2-week estimate of total productive time from the diary was 67.2 hours compared with 67.8 hours from the WHI, with a Pearson's (Spearman's) correlation of 0.50 (0.46). CONCLUSION: At a population level, the WHI provides an accurate estimate of missed time from work and total productive time when compared with workplace and diary estimates. At an individual level, the WHI measure of total missed time, but not reduced performance time, is moderately accurate.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2003

Lost productive time and cost due to common pain conditions in the US workforce.

CONTEXT: Common pain conditions appear to have an adverse effect on work, but no comprehensive estimates exist on the amount of productive time lost in the US workforce due to pain. OBJECTIVE: To measure lost productive time (absence and reduced performance due to common pain conditions) during a 2-week period. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study using survey data from the American Productivity Audit (a telephone survey that uses the Work and Health Interview) of working adults between August 1, 2001, and July 30, 2002. PARTICIPANTS: Random sample of 28 902 working adults in the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lost productive time due to common pain conditions (arthritis, back, headache, and other musculoskeletal) expressed in hours per worker per week and calculated in US dollars. RESULTS: Thirteen percent of the total workforce experienced a loss in productive time during a 2-week period due to a common pain condition. Headache was the most common (5.4%) pain condition resulting in lost productive time. It was followed by back pain (3.2%), arthritis pain (2.0%), and other musculoskeletal pain (2.0%). Workers who experienced lost productive time from a pain condition lost a mean (SE) of 4.6 (0.09) h/wk. Workers who had a headache had a mean (SE) loss in productive time of 3.5 (0.1) h/wk. Workers who reported arthritis or back pain had mean (SE) lost productive times of 5.2 (0.25) h/wk. Other common pain conditions resulted in a mean (SE) loss in productive time of 5.5 (0.22) h/wk. Lost productive time from common pain conditions among active workers costs an estimated 61.2 billion dollars per year. The majority (76.6%) of the lost productive time was explained by reduced performance while at work and not work absence. CONCLUSIONS: Pain is an inordinately common and disabling condition in the US workforce. Most of the pain-related lost productive time occurs while employees are at work and is in the form of reduced performance.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2003

Cost of lost productive work time among US workers with depression.

CONTEXT: Evidence consistently indicates that depression has adversely affected work productivity. Estimates of the cost impact in lost labor time in the US workforce, however, are scarce and dated. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the impact of depression on labor costs (ie, work absence and reduced performance while at work) in the US workforce. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: All employed individuals who participated in the American Productivity Audit (conducted August 1, 2001-July 31, 2002) between May 20 and July 11, 2002, were eligible for the Depressive Disorders Study. Those who responded affirmatively to 2 depression-screening questions (n = 692), as well as a 1:4 stratified random sample of those responding in the negative (n = 435), were recruited for and completed a supplemental interview using the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Mood Module for depression, the Somatic Symptom Inventory, and a medical and treatment history for depression. Excess lost productive time (LPT) costs from depression were derived as the difference in LPT among individuals with depression minus the expected LPT in the absence of depression projected to the US workforce. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Estimated LPT and associated labor costs (work absence and reduced performance while at work) due to depression. RESULTS: Workers with depression reported significantly more total health-related LPT than those without depression (mean, 5.6 h/wk vs an expected 1.5 h/wk, respectively). Eighty-one percent of the LPT costs are explained by reduced performance while at work. Major depression accounts for 48% of the LPT among those with depression, again with a majority of the cost explained by reduced performance while at work. Self-reported use of antidepressants in the previous 12 months among those with depression was low (<33%) and the mean reported treatment effectiveness was only moderate. Extrapolation of these survey results and self-reported annual incomes to the population of US workers suggests that US workers with depression employed in the previous week cost employers an estimated 44 billion dollars per year in LPT, an excess of 31 billion dollars per year compared with peers without depression. This estimate does not include labor costs associated with short- and long-term disability. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of the LPT costs that employers face from employee depression is invisible and explained by reduced performance while at work. Use of treatments for depression appears to be relatively low. The combined LPT burden among those with depression and the low level of treatment suggests that there may be cost-effective opportunities for improving depression-related outcomes in the US workforce.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Lost productive work time costs from health conditions in the United States: results from the American Productivity Audit.

The American Productivity Audit (APA) is a telephone survey of a random sample of 28,902 U.S. workers designed to quantify the impact of health conditions on work. Lost productive time (LPT) was measured for personal and family health reasons and expressed in hours and dollars. Health-related LPT cost employers 225.8 billion US dollars/year (1685 US dollars/employee per year); 71% is explained by reduced performance at work. Personal health LPT was 30% higher in females and twice as high in smokers (> or =1 pack/day) versus nonsmokers. Workers in high-demand, low-control jobs had the lowest average LPT/week versus the highest LPT for those in low-demand, high-control jobs. Family health-related work absence accounted for 6% of all health-related LPT. Health-related LPT costs are substantial but largely invisible to employers. Costs vary significantly by worker characteristics, suggesting that intervention needs vary by specific subgroups.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2002

Quality of life in a US national sample of adults with diabetes and motility-related upper gastrointestinal symptoms.

Our objective was to describe the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with diabetes with and without motility-related upper gastrointestinal symptoms compared to individuals without diabetes. A total of 483 individuals with diabetes and 422 age- and gender-matched nondiabetic controls were recruited from a prior US national health survey for a telephone interview on upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Individuals with diabetes self-reported a physician's diagnosis of diabetes and provided confirming information on clinical management measures. Subjects were asked about upper gastrointestinal symptoms in the month before interview using an instrument with demonstrated high reliability. HRQoL was measured using the SF-12 Health Survey. Individuals with diabetes reporting upper gastrointestinal symptoms scored significantly lower in HRQoL measures of physical health and mental health than either individuals with diabetes who did not report upper gastrointestinal symptoms or individuals without diabetes (P < 0.0001). Individuals with diabetes and no upper gastrointestinal symptoms had physical and mental health summary scores similar to those of individuals without diabetes. Early satiety was the strongest predictor (P < 0.0001) of differences in physical health scores between individuals with and without diabetes. Nausea was the strongest predictor (P < 0.0001) of differences in mental health scores between individuals with and without diabetes. In conclusion, this is the first US national survey to demonstrate that motility-related upper gastrointestinal symptoms are associated with a significantly lower quality of life in individuals with diabetes.

Adult↗