This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Employee absenteeism common among patients with diabetic eye disease
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
CHICAGO — Employees with diabetic macular edema or diabetic retinopathy appear to miss more workdays due to sick leave or short- or long-term disability when compared with those without the disease or its complications, according to data presented here at the ADA Scientific Sessions.
Richard A. Brook, MS, MBA, from the JeSTARx Group in Newfoundland, N.J., and colleagues examined employee data on absence days and workers’ compensation from January 2001 to June 2012 in employees aged at least 18 years with continuous eligibility for at least 1 year from the Human Capital Management Services database, which includes anonymous data on employees in more than 20 geographically dispersed US employers, including manufacturing, insurance, retail, transportation and telecommunications.
The researchers compared two control groups without diabetic eye disease — one with and one without diabetes—with those who had diabetic macular edema or diabetic retinopathy. Of the 466,251 employees who met inclusion criteria, 39,702 were commercial drivers.
When compared with the control group without diabetes, employees with diabetic macular edema or diabetic retinopathy missed significantly more work, according to the study abstract. Among non-drivers, those without diabetes missed 5.44 days vs. 13.7 days for those with diabetic macular edema and 12.65 days for those with diabetic retinopathy. The differences between controls and disease groups were more pronounced among commercial drivers. Commercial drivers with diabetic macular edema or diabetic retinopathy missed 27.04 and 16.8 days vs. 14.89 for controls with diabetes and 8.16 for controls without diabetes.
Results indicated that sick-leave was the most common cause for missed work among non-drivers while short- and long-term disability accounted for the majority of missed work among drivers.
“This analysis shows the detrimental impact of [diabetic macular edema] and [diabetic retinopathy] on employee absenteeism, particularly those employees who depend on eyesight for their jobs, such as commercial drivers,” the researchers wrote in the abstract. – by Melissa Foster
For more information:
Brooks RA. #618-P. Presented at: ADA Scientific Sessions; June 21-25, 2013; Chicago.
Disclosure: Brook is a consultant for Genentech. Kleinman is a consultant for Genentech. Patel is a consultant for Allergan, Genentech and Ophthotech; has received research support from Alcon Laboratories, Alimera, Allergan, Genentech, Ophthotech, Pfizer and Regeneron; is on the speaker’s bureau for Alcon Laboratories; and has stock or is a shareholder in Ophthotech. Smeeding is a consultant for Genentech. Beren is a consultant for Genentech. Miller is an employee of and has stock or is a shareholder in Genentech. Turpcu is an employee of and has stock or is a shareholder in Genentech.