Use of a normal impairment factor in quantifying avoidable productivity loss because of poor health

Growing evidence demonstrates a relationship between excess health risk and preventable productivity loss. There is a need to quantify how much lost productivity is avoidable through employer-sponsored health management interventions. This study introduced the Normal Impairment Factor (NIF) to recognize the amount of productivity loss that cannot be mitigated through health management interventions.

A health assessment questionnaire was administered to 772,750 employees, representing 106 employers within five industry sectors. Researchers used multivariate regression procedures to examine the association between preventable health risks and self-reported productivity loss.

Back pain, mental well being, and stress risk were the strongest predictors of on-the-job productivity loss. A strong association was also detected between the number of health risks and productivity loss ranging from 3.4% for those at lowest risk (the NIF group) to 24.0% loss for those at risk for eight risks.

This study demonstrated the utility of the NIF in estimating the level of productivity loss that cannot be regained through health management interventions.