Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases risk associated with the incidence of presenteeism and the costs of presenteeism

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate a risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases for each worker and to determine whether this risk is associated with the incidence and costs of presenteeism, absenteeism, and medical/drug treatments.

Methods: Established risk equations were used to estimate the 10-year probability of developing coronary artery disease and ischemic stroke in male workers aged 40-65 years who were recruited from four pharmaceutical companies in Japan. The incidence of presenteeism was defined as existence of presenteeism for the past a month, and the incidence of absenteeism was defined as existence of sick-leave for the past three months by a self-administered questionnaire. Each cost was calculated based on the human capital method. Data on medical/drug treatments were collected from health insurance claims.

Results: The risks were calculated for 6047 workers. Individuals at moderate and high risk of coronary artery disease had a significantly higher rate of presenteeism and absenteeism than workers at low risk. Workers at moderate and high risk of ischemic stroke also had a significantly higher rate of presenteeism and absenteeism than workers at low risk. Mean costs for absenteeism and medical/drug treatments increased with the risk of developing coronary artery disease or ischemic stroke, while costs for presenteeism did not.

Conclusions: To prevent the costs of presenteeism, workers not only at high risk but also at low and moderate risk of developing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should receive health care services.