The Effects of a Digital Digestive Care Management Program on Employee Absenteeism: A Case-Control Study.

Abstract

60 to 70 million people in the US have chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Employers bear a significant economic burden for GI conditions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a digital digestive care program on absenteeism. Using propensity score matching between participants and nonparticipants, we evaluated sick days of public school system employees who were offered a digital digestive care program as part of their health benefits. Baseline annual sick days were comparable for the 237 participants and 400 nonparticipants. Among employees aged 50 years and older, during the intervention period, participants had significantly fewer sick days than nonparticipants (1.7 days [SD, 4.2], P = 0.02), an approximate direct salary savings of $672/employee annually. Digital digestive care is promising for decreasing sick days among older workers.