Photo Credit: Liudmila Chernetska
The following is a summary of “Work Productivity Impairment in Persons with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” published in the April 2024 issue of Gastroenterology by Youssef et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating how inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects employment and work productivity.
They searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, ProQuest, and clinicaltrials.gov (February 2023) to find studies on work productivity in individuals with IBD over 18 years. The work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI) questionnaire defined work productivity, covering absenteeism, presenteeism, overall work impairment, and non-work activity impairment. Data were collected on employment, sick leaves, disability pensions, and indirect costs due to productivity loss. A random-effects model was used for pooled continuous and proportional data estimates with 95% CI in pooled effect analysis.
The results showed that among patients with IBD, the pooled estimates for absenteeism were 16.4%, presenteeism 35.9%, overall work impairment 39.4%, and non-work activity impairment 46.0%. The indirect costs from overall work impairment were 5,131.09 euros per patient per year. Only two-thirds of patients with IBD were employed, and 33.3% lost their jobs due to the disease. Among those employed, 39.5% reported taking sick days, 21.3% reported work disability, and 12.3% received disability pensions. Most studies indicate that medical and/or surgical therapies can lead to clinically meaningful improvements in work productivity for patients with IBD.
Investigators concluded that IBD was associated with substantial work impairment and indirect costs.
Source: academic.oup.com/ecco-jcc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjae057/7655847