How Much Does Presenteeism Change in Response to Interventions or Alterations in Health Status? A Systematic Review...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Health Services Research
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Presenteeism, working while unwell, significantly impacts productivity.
• Understanding the responsiveness of presenteeism measures to health changes is crucial for accurate assessment.
• Existing literature shows variability in how responsiveness is reported, necessitating a systematic review.

Approach:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across eight databases for longitudinal studies measuring presenteeism since 2012.
• Two independent reviewers screened studies, extracted data, and appraised methodological quality using the COSMIN checklist.
• Quantitative pooling of standardized response means (SRMs) and Cohen's d was performed for interventional studies.

Key Points:

• Responsiveness estimates indicated an average important change of 17/100 for improvement and -17/100 for deterioration.
• Four presenteeism measures exhibited strong responsiveness: Work Productivity Survey, Work Functioning Impairment Scale, Work Role Functioning Questionnaire, and Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire.
• Significant variation exists in the reporting of responsiveness data across measurement studies.

Conclusions:

• The Work Productivity Survey, Work Functioning Impairment Scale, Work Role Functioning Questionnaire, and Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire are reliable measures of presenteeism.
• Standardized reporting of responsiveness data in measurement studies is needed to improve the quality of evidence.
• Further research should focus on standardizing the methodology for assessing presenteeism measure responsiveness.