Potential Work Time Lost Due to Sickness Absence and Presence Among Japanese Workers

Joint association of daily rest periods and sleep duration with sick leave: a one-year prospective cohort study of daytime employees in Japan

Daily rest period (DRP) refers to the interval between the end of one workday and the start of the next. This study examined the joint association of DRP and sleep duration with subsequent sick leave among Japanese daytime employees. A total of 5,593 participants were assessed for DRP and sleep duration at baseline and for sick leave at a one-year follow-up. They were categorized into ten groups based on their DRP and daily sleep duration. Logistic regression analyses for individuals experiencing sick leave for longer than a month showed that the combination of short DRP (<11 h) and sleep duration (<6 h) had a higher odds ratio (4.981, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.126-22.046) than the reference group. Furthermore, the combination of short DRP and normal sleep duration had a higher odds ratio (8.152, 95% CI=1.801-36.902) than the reference group. Short DRP was associated with subsequent long sick leave.

Presenteeism Caused by Health Conditions and Its Economic Impacts Among Japanese Workers in the Post-COVID-19 Era

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the common health conditions leading to presenteeism and the economic impact among Japanese workers in the post-COVID-19 era.

METHODS

Between February and March 2023, 10,000 workers responded to a web-based, cross-sectional survey on health problems that interfered with their work, degree of presenteeism, and teleworking status.

RESULTS

Approximately 35.6% of workers faced health problems that impacted their work. The primary health problems leading to presenteeism were low back pain, neck pain/stiff shoulders, and mental illness, which varied slightly with age and work style. The estimated annual costs due to presenteeism per 1000 employees were $488,210 for low back pain, $346,308 for neck pain/stiff shoulders, and $327,137 for mental illness.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that presenteeism measures, primarily for musculoskeletal pain and mental health problems, are required to increase work productivity.

Relationship between occupational stress and presenteeism status among workers in small and medium-sized enterprises

This study aimed to identify characteristics of workers experiencing health problems without a decline in labor productivity to address presenteeism. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 554 workers in Japan, with a median age of 43 years. Participants reported any health problems in the past month, along with job stressors, stress responses, social support, and job and life satisfaction using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. They were categorized into three groups: "no symptoms," "pre-presenteeism" (health problems without work impact), and "presenteeism" (health problems with work impact). Results showed that 30.1% were in "prepresenteeism" and 52.0% in "presenteeism." Stress responses and social support were linked to both "pre-presenteeism" and "presenteeism," while job stressors and job and life satisfaction were only associated with "presenteeism." These findings offer insights for preventing presenteeism.

Association between Irregular Meal Timing and the Mental Health of Japanese Workers

Breakfast skipping and nighttime snacking have been identified as risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. However, the effects of irregularity of meal timing on health and daily quality of life are still unclear. In this study, a web-based self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted involving 4490 workers (73.3% males; average age = 47.4 ± 0.1 years) in Japan to investigate the association between meal habits, health, and social relationships. This study identified that irregular meal timing was correlated with higher neuroticism (one of the Big Five personality traits), lower physical activity levels, and higher productivity loss. Irregular meal timing was also associated with a higher incidence of sleep problems and lower subjective health conditions. Among health outcomes, a high correlation of irregular meal timing with mental health factors was observed. This study showed that irregularity of meal timing can be explained by unbalanced diets, frequent breakfast skipping, increased snacking frequency, and insufficient latency from the last meal to sleep onset. Finally, logistic regression analysis was conducted, and a significant contribution of meal timing irregularity to subjective mental health was found under adjustment for other confounding factors. These results suggest that irregular meal timing is a good marker of subjective mental health issues.

The Economic Burden of Lost Productivity due to Presenteeism Caused by Health Conditions Among Workers in Japan

To identify the primary health conditions that cause presenteeism, and to estimate the economic cost of lost productivity due to presenteeism in Japan.

Health-Related Productivity Loss According to Health Conditions among Workers in South Korea

This study aimed to investigate the degree of health-related productivity loss (HRPL) for common health conditions. A total of 4197 workers participated in a web-based questionnaire survey from January to February 2020. HRPL was measured using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire, and a difference in HRPL was calculated for each common health condition. The burden of productivity loss due to each health condition was calculated by the product of the difference in HRPL scores and the percentage of participants who complained. The health conditions most strongly associated with increased HRPL were infertility treatment (30.6%), osteoporosis (25.9%), cancer (25.3%), gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer (25.0%) and anaemia (23.9%). The most important health conditions in order of their magnitude of induced burden of productivity loss were fatigue, neck or shoulder pain, insufficient sleep, back pain, headache, common cold and flu, insomnia, anxiety and diarrhoea or constipation. HRPL is more strongly and importantly associated with the aforementioned health conditions. Occupational health managers should prioritise addressing health conditions strongly and importantly associated with HRPL when implementing health promotion programmes.

Dupilumab treatment in patients with atopic dermatitis: a comparative cohort study between the Netherlands and Japan shows a discrepancy in patient-reported outcome measures

BACKGROUND

Dupilumab was equally effective among all racial subgroups in clinical trials, but a direct comparison in daily practice is lacking.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the effectiveness of dupilumab in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) in the Netherlands and Japan over 80 weeks of treatment.

METHODS

A longitudinal comparative cohort study was conducted in patients with AD who were treated with dupilumab in daily practice. We used linear mixed-effects models to determine changes over time.

RESULTS

We found statistically significant differences in sex, disease onset, body mass index and therapeutic history between Dutch (n = 208) and Japanese (n = 153) patients. The baseline Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score was higher in Japanese patients (23·8 vs. 14·8), while baseline Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) were higher in Dutch patients. EASI scores decreased quickly to a level indicating 'mild disease' (EASI < 7), and remained low in both countries. However, PROMs showed different trajectories with better scores in Japan.

CONCLUSIONS

Dupilumab showed significant, comparable and sustained improvement of EASI scores in Japanese and Dutch patients. However, we found striking differences in the effect on PROMs between the countries, with a better outcome in Japanese patients.

Work functioning impairment in the course of pharmacotherapy treatment for depression

This study investigated the association between the duration of pharmacotherapy treatment for depression, or discontinuation from treatment, and work functioning impairment. This was a retrospective cohort study examining 30,409 workers. Work functioning impairment was assessed using a questionnaire, and treatment status was assessed using medical claims data. Odds ratios (ORs) of workers with severe work functioning impairment compared with healthy workers (control group) were calculated using logistic regression analysis. Continuous medical treatment was associated with severely impaired work functioning regardless of treatment period [continuous medical treatment; 4 months <: OR = 3.2, 4 months ≥, 10 months <: OR = 2.6, 10 months ≥, 14 months <: OR = 2.3, 14 months ≥, 16 months <: OR = 2.3, which are all statistically significant (p < 0.05)]. Workers who initially received pharmacotherapy treatment but discontinued in < 11 months had a significantly higher OR (treatment discontinuation period; 3 months <: OR = 2.3, 3 months ≥, 8 months <; OR = 2.0, 8 months ≥, 11 months <; OR = 3.0), while those who discontinued at ≥ 11 months did not (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.6-3.5). The sensitivity analysis excluding participants with at least one psychiatric comorbidity other than depression did not change the final result. It is important for the occupational health practitioners and attending psychiatrists to follow up in cooperation with each other, paying attention to the decrease in work functioning in addition to the symptoms.

Job satisfaction, distributive justice, perceived absence legitimacy and the role of turnover intentions: an exploratory study in Ghana

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between job satisfaction and distributive justice on employee perceptions of absence legitimacy. This paper also examined the moderating effects of turnover intentions on the relevant relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used convenience sampling to collect data from 298 employees working in private and public sector organizations in the manufacturing and service sectors in Ghana. Drawing on institutional theory, this study investigates the effects of employee perceptions of the legitimacy of absenteeism on their attitudes toward their job and pay. Structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and moderation effects.

Findings

Job satisfaction and perceived distributive justice were found to be significantly related to the absence of legitimacy. Additionally, turnover intentions moderated the relationship between job satisfaction and absence legitimacy; however, unexpectedly, this was associated only marginally with distributive justice.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study was that it was cross-sectional, but the analysis did not show a common method bias. This study was conducted in a developing country where valid and accurate absence data are non-existent. The hypotheses were supported. When employees felt a sense of inequity and were dissatisfied with their jobs, they were likely to perceive absenteeism as legitimate behavior. These relationships were more pronounced when employees intended to leave their organizations.

Practical implications

From a practical standpoint, as employees are likely to engage in absenteeism as a means to reduce their perceptions of imbalance and because absenteeism is a costly behavior, it would be in the employer’s best interest to mitigate these high costs. It behooves employers to comprehend the factors that lead to the legitimization of absences. Doing so, they would be able to implement attendance management systems and strategies that would delegitimize some of these factors, thus improving attendance and potentially increasing productivity and job satisfaction and reducing turnover intentions.

Originality/value

This study contributes to absenteeism research because, unlike most studies in the area, it examined employee cognitions of the behavior. Such cognitions should provide insights into how employee perceptions of the legitimacy of absences would affect attitudinal variables such as job satisfaction, feelings of equity and turnover intentions. Moreover, even though the study was conducted in Ghana, absence legitimacy can be investigated in different settings at different levels of analysis. This is because it is free from contamination such as, dissimilar absence reporting systems within and across organizations and nations that affect the validity and accuracy of absence data.

Pain, unhealthy days and poor perceived health among Japanese workers

Objectives

The current research aimed to study the relationship between health‐related quality of life (poor perceived health/unhealthy days) and workers' pain.

Methods

This cross‐sectional study was conducted among 1360 Japanese workers of a Japanese company in Kyushu. Health‐related quality of life was measured by HRQOL‐4 tool developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the USA. Pain was assessed by numeric rating scale with 0‐10 points. Regression analysis was conducted to identify the relationship between health‐related quality of life and pain.

Results

Participants who reported pain had significantly greater odds of having poor health compared to those with no pain (AOR = 3.99, 95% CI = 3.82‐4.18, P < .0001). In general, participants who had a higher frequency and intensity of pain had significantly greater odds of having poor health compared to those with no pain. Compared to those with no pain, participants with pain had an average of 2.85 (95% CI = 2.07‐3.63, P < .0001), 2.25 (95% CI = 1.52‐2.99, P < .0001), 4.41 (95% CI = 3.39‐5, P < .0001), and 1.9 (95% CI = 1.30‐2.50, P < .0001) more physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, total unhealthy days, and days with activity limitation, respectively. Headache causes many more unhealthy days and more poor health than any other pain, including back pain, shoulder/neck pain, and joint pain.

Conclusion

Poor health status and the number of unhealthy days among Japanese workers are strongly associated with the presence of pain and increases with the intensity and frequency of pain.