Study: Lifestyle interventions may reduce sick days, disability

Mar 20, 2009

Lifestyle intervention programs may help reduce the number of lost workdays and disability among workers with diabetes and obesity, a recent study suggests.

As part of the study, conducted at the University of Virginia's Department of Public Health Sciences in Charlottesville, one group of workers met with a registered dietician both individually and in groups to discuss health assessments and goals, while a control group received standard care with written educational materials. The annual cost of the lifestyle intervention program was $328 per person.

According to a study abstract, study participants were asked how many days they missed work or were physically limited at work because of their obesity or diabetes at the beginning of the study, and again at four, six, eight and 12 months. Although the baseline measurements were similar in both groups, as the study progressed, the group in the lifestyle intervention program experienced a significant drop in both lost workdays and disability days. Overall, researchers found that these study participants reduced their number of lost workdays by 64.3 percent and disability days by 87.2 percent.

The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Vol. 51, No. 2).