Impact of lifestyle intervention on lost productivity and disability: Improving control with activity and nutrition

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention (LI) in reducing work loss and disability days.

METHODS:

One year randomized controlled trial of health plan members (n = 147) with type 2 diabetes and obesity. Members were randomized to modest-cost LI or usual care (UC). Outcomes were group differences in cumulative days either missed at work or with disability using Mann-Whitney U-tests and Poisson regression models.

RESULTS:

LI reduced the risk of workdays lost by 64.3% (P ≤ 0.001) compared to UC (annual accumulation: UC.: 3.49 days vs LI.: 0.92 days, P = 0.01). LI decreased the risk of disability days by 87.2% (P = 0.0003) compared to UC (annual accumulation: UC.: 5.3 days vs LI.: 0.94 days, P ≤ 0.001). Similar trends were observed among the subset of people with depression.

CONCLUSION:

LIs reduce work loss and disability days associated with diabetes and obesity. ©2009The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.