A surprising health cost and productivity driver
August 13, 2009 by Bill MeltzerPosted in: Health care, Latest News & Views, Pay and benefits
Name some common health issues that cause absenteeism and lower productivity at your company.
Chances are migraine headaches are pretty far down on the list, if you included it at all. But perhaps it should be a higher priority for employee education and risk-management.
An estimated 28 million Americans are afflicted by recurrent migraines. Some projections place the annual indirect cost to U.S. employers at $13 billion. That’s debatable, but there’s no doubt that an employee with a migraine is probably not too productive.
Mixed news
A study by HSM Group concludes that people who suffer from chronic migraines miss on average one day of work every three months.
Even when they come to work, employees admit they have virtually zero productivity on days they have flare-ups. Depending on how successfully the migraine is treated, the attacks can last four to 72 hours.
But there is good news. It’s gotten easier to pinpoint your company’s risk and raise awareness among employees most likely to be migraine sufferers:
- Females are higher risk than males. Stats show 18% of women get frequent migraines, versus 6.5% of men. Female sufferers also tend to get more flare-ups; they occur nearly eight days every three months, and
- Age is another key factor. The most likely sufferers are age 30 to 49.
It’s also possible to put a dollar figure on your own company’s risk that’s more meaningful than the national estimate. A free migraine cost calculator – which takes into account company size, gender mix and age breakdown – is available here.
Best practices
Migraines are a tailor-made topic for targeted educational mailings to high-risk employees, articles in your benefits newsletter and for inclusion in a disease/care management program.
The odds of success are good. Unlike other health issues, migraines are fairly easily treated. Education pieces can focus on recognizing common triggers for attacks:
- lack of food or sleep
- anxiety or stress, and
- hormonal changes for women.
Tags: absent, healthcare costs, presenteeism, productivity
August 20th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
It is inherently stressful to work at this company, which could be one reason why we have so many migraine sufferers on our payroll.
August 21st, 2009 at 8:36 am
The statement “migraines are fairly easily treated” is not accurate. I have two sisters and myself who suffered with migraines for years, two of which would be down in bed for 2-3 days vomiting and very ill. One sister was given medication to take at the first sign of a headache, and still ended up going to the ER for shots on several occasions because she could not control them. She sometimes spent as much as 8 hours in the ER with personnel trying to manage the symptoms. Mine were not as severe, but it would take an average of 2 days to become fully functional again. I believe this is more prevalent than people realize. Age is definitely a factor in women who are prone to these. After age 50, I seldom have a headache at all compared to an average of about 4 in a 12 month period. My two sisters also have seen the severity and frequency lessen. Migraines are not just a bad headache, they are debilitating and leave you unable to function.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I totally agree with CM that the statement “migraines are fairly easily treated” is not accurate. I, too, have suffered from severe migraines for the past 30 years. I have been through every medical test in the book and have used without success most of the medications available. Finally, after menopause, I have had welcome relief. I rarely have an episode and if so, they are not as severe and I am back on my feet in a few hours.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Migranines are not always easily treated. As I have gotten older my migranes are not as often but when I do have them they are often much worse. I recently had one and kept it for 3 days while taking my preventive and my RX meds. I was able to come to work but I did not feel well and can’t say I was productive. About all the meds did was manage the pain and nausea althrough both were still present. I have had this problem since high school and find that often people with just a bad headache say they have migranes. They are not the same.