How Valid Are Self-Reports of Illness-Related Absence? Evidence from a University Employee Health Management Program

The present study uses a focused approach to compare self-reported versus administratively recorded measures of absences related to health or illness. To date, the few studies that focus on this topic produced mixed results. To help shed light on this issue, the present research has 2 related objectives: (1) examine how highly correlated self-reported and administratively recorded measures of absences related to health or illness might be, and (2) how each measure predicts various aspects of health. Using data from the 2012 StayWell? Health Management health risk appraisal (HRA) and 1 year (2011) of administratively recorded timekeeping data, bivariate analyses for continuous variables and generalized linear modeling for variables with greater than 2 response categories were used. For the multivariate analyses, linear regression models controlling for sex, age, race, income, job status, and campus location were calculated for the continuous outcomes (ie, self-rated health and chronic conditions). Results indicate that self-reported and administratively recorded absences related to health or illness were moderately correlated (correlation coefficient of 0.47). In addition, each measure functioned similarly (in direction and magnitude) to predict health outcomes. Both greater self-reported and recorded illness-related absenteeism was associated with poorer self-rated health and greater numbers of chronic conditions. These results suggest that self-rated illness-related absenteeism may be a reasonable way to assess various program outcomes meaningful to employers, particularly if administratively recorded measures are unavailable or too time consuming or expensive to analyze. (Population Health Management 2014;17:211?217)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140182/1/pop.2013.0087.pd

Comment on the letter to the editors from Thomas Läubli

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43478/1/038_2004_Article_3145.pd

Patterns of body weight in middle-aged and older Americans, by gender and race, 1993–2000

Objectives: Despite evidence of poor health outcomes associated with excessive weight gain or loss, longitudinal patterns of body weight over the adult life course have not been fully described. This article seeks to address this by examining body weight patterns for middle-aged and older adults.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43477/1/038_2003_Article_2053.pd

Workplace Well-Being Factors That Predict Employee Participation, Health and Medical Cost Impact, and Perceived Support

Purpose: This study tested relationships between health and well-being best practices and 3 types of outcomes. Design: A cross-sectional design used data from the HERO Scorecard Benchmark Database. Setting: Data were voluntarily provided by employers who submitted web-based survey responses. Sample: Analyses were limited to 812 organizations that completed the HERO Scorecard between January 12, 2015 and October 2, 2017. Measures: Independent variables included organizational and leadership support, program comprehensiveness, program integration, and incentives. Dependent variables included participation rates, health and medical cost impact, and perceptions of organizational support. Analysis: Three structural equation models were developed to investigate the relationships among study variables. Results: Model sample size varied based on organizationally reported outcomes. All models fit the data well (comparative fit index \u3e 0.96). Organizational and leadership support was the strongest predictor (P \u3c .05) of participation (n ¼ 276 organizations), impact (n ¼ 160 organizations), and perceived organizational support (n ¼ 143 organizations). Incentives predicted participation in health assessment and biometric screening (P \u3c .05). Program comprehensiveness and program integration were not significant predictors (P \u3e .05) in any of the models. Conclusion: Organizational and leadership support practices are essential to produce participation, health and medical cost impact, and perceptions of organizational support. While incentives influence participation, they are likely insufficient to yield downstream outcomes. The overall study design limits the ability to make causal inferences from the data

The impact of own and spouse's urinary incontinence on depressive symptoms

This study investigated the impact of own and spouse's urinary incontinence on depressive symptoms. Attention was paid to the possibility that gender and caregiving might be important factors in understanding significant effects. We used negative binomial regression to analyze survey data for 9974 middle-aged and older respondents to the Health and Retirement Study in the USA. Results supported the hypothesis that the respondents' own urinary incontinence was associated with depressive symptoms (unadj. IRR=1.73, 95% CIs=1.53, 1.95 for men; unadj. IRR=1.50, 95% CIs=1.38, 1.63 for women). Controlling sociodemographic and health variables reduced this relationship, but it remained statistically significant for both men and women. Having an incontinent wife put men at greater risk for depressive symptoms (unadj. IRR=1.13, 95% CIs=1.02, 1.25), although this relation became nonsignificant with the addition of control variables. No relation between women's depressive symptoms and husbands' (in)continence status was found. Caregiving was not a significant variable in the adjusted analyses, but spouses' depressive symptoms emerged as a significant predictor of the respondents' own depressive symptoms. Health care providers must be sensitive to the emotional impact of urinary incontinence. Our findings also suggest the importance of considering the patient's mental health within a wider context, particularly including the physical and mental health of the patient's spouse.Urinary incontinence Depressive symptoms Survey USA