Managing office worker presenteeism by providing financial aid for acupuncture therapy: a pragmatic multicenter randomized comparative study

Abstract

To evaluate whetherfinancial aid for acupuncture therapy is beneficial for non-manufacturing jobworkers (office workers) who are aware of reduced job performance due to healthissues (presenteeism), a four-week pragmatic multicenter randomized study was conductedwith office workers who were aware of their presenteeism. The control group onlyimplemented the workplace-recommended presenteeism measures, whereas theintervention group received financial aid for acupuncture therapy of up to 8,000 JPY in addition to implementing the presenteeismmeasures recommended by each workplace. The major outcome measure was the WorldHealth Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire relativepresenteeism score. A total of 203 patients were assigned to the intervention(n=103) and control (n=108) groups. The intervention group underwent a medianof 1.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 1.0 to 2.0) sessions of acupuncture for neckdisorders (64%), back disorders (16%), and depressed mood/anxiety/irritation (5%),among others. Results showed that the intervention group had slightly better jobperformance than the control group (effect size [r] = 0.15, p=0.03).Financial aid for acupuncture therapy may help compensate for losses incurredby enterprises in the form of 14,117 JPY per worker a month.