Exercise and the bottom line: promoting physical and fiscal fitness in the workplace: a commentary

The association of health status, worksite fitness center participation, and two measures of productivity

OBJECTIVES

We sought to examine the associations between participation in a worksite fitness center and worker productivity.

METHODS

A modified Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) and employees' short-term disability claims were used as productivity measures with multivariate logistic regression models to control for health risk, age, gender, and work location.

RESULTS

Nonparticipants in a worksite fitness center were more likely to report health-related work productivity limitations for time management (odds ratio [OR] = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-2.41), physical work (OR = 1.58, CI = 1.03-2.43), output limitations (OR = 2.24, CI = 1.01-2.12), and overall work impairment (OR = 1.41, CI = 1.00-1.96) than fitness center participants. Fitness center participation also was associated with 1.3 days fewer short-term disability days per year per employee (P = 0.02) and 0.39 fewer health risks (P = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the association of worksite fitness center participants with improved worker productivity and fewer short-term disability workdays lost.