A longitudinal exploration of the relationship between obesity, and long term health condition with presenteeism in Australian workplaces, 2006-2018

BACKGROUND: Obesity and long term health condition (LTHC) are major public health concerns that have an impact on productivity losses at work. Little is known about the longitudinal association between obesity and LTHC with impaired productivity. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the longitudinal association between obesity and LTHC with presenteeism or working while sick. DESIGN: Longitudinal research design SETTING: Australian workplaces METHODS: This study pooled individual-level data of 111,086 employees collected in wave 6 through wave 18 from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The study used a Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model with logistic link function to estimate the association. RESULTS: The findings suggest that overweight (Odds Ratios [OR]: 1.09, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.05–1.14), obesity (OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.31–1.45), and LTHC (OR: 3.03, 95% CI: 2.90–3.16) are significantly positively associated with presenteeism. CONCLUSIONS: The longitudinal association between obesity and LTHC with presenteeism among Australian employees implies that interventions to improve workers' health and well-being will reduce the risk of presenteeism at work.