Impact of vitamin D deficiency on the productivity of a health care workforce.

Abstract

To define the relationship between vitamin D status and employee presenteeism in a large sample of health care employees. Prospective observation study of 10,646 employees of a Midwestern-integrated health care system who completed an on-line health risk appraisal questionnaire and were measured for 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Measured differences in productivity due to presenteeism were 0.66, 0.91, and 0.75 when comparing employees above and below vitamin D levels of 20 ng/mL, 30 ng/mL, and 40 ng/mL, respectively. These productivity differences translate into potential productivity savings of 0.191%, 0.553%, and 0.625%, respectively, of total payroll costs. Low vitamin D status is associated with reduced employee work productivity. Employee vitamin D assessment and replenishment may represent a low-cost, high-return program to mitigate risk factors and health conditions that drive total employer health care costs.