Close associations among work productivity, emergency healthcare use and individual factors in employees with chronic diseases

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships among work productivity, emergency healthcare use and individual factors in employees with chronic diseases by using mediation analysis. Methods and Results: In this cross-sectional study, 143 employees with chronic diseases were included. Data were collected by a questionnaire including healthcare utilization (emergency care and hospitalization), daily medication use, Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and “Fear of inability to carry out duties” in the study. In Mediation analyses performed to clarify the relationship between causal and outcome variables, Presenteeism score as an outcome variable was identified with the emergency care service in the direct path (P=0.0000). Increases in T-STAI score was found to be a mediator for the Presenteeism score in the indirect path (P=0.0001). Conclusions: Emergency healthcare utilization and increases in Trait-STAI scores were predictive factors for Presenteeism in employees with chronic diseases within limits of the study.