- Lowest average number of workdays: arthritis/rheumatism at 6.65 days, but most prevalent disease causing functional limitation.
- Next two, chronic lung disease at 9.84 and chronic diabetes at 10.43 days.
- Highest workday loss: cancer at 37.32 days
- Mean number of workdays lost increases with more conditions with functional limitations experienced by an individual.
***Strokes and cancer are less prevalent than the rest but have high severity, leading to significant absenteeism.

Statistics Concerning Lost Workdays for Those with Functional Limitation Chronic Diseases

Based on the 2011-2013 National Health Interview Survey, functional limitations from seven common chronic diseases caused significant economic and workday losses for US full-time employees:
* 6.2 million employees suffered from at least one of these chronic diseases.
* These diseases led to 28.2 million lost workdays, equating to roughly \$4.95 billion in lost income.
* Arthritis and rheumatism caused 5.1 million employees to lose over 19.4 million workdays annually (roughly \$3.54 billion).
* Cancer-related limitations affected only 1.8% of individuals but ranked second highest in lost workdays and income.
* Individuals with two or more of these chronic diseases experienced a 2.5-fold increase in lost workdays compared to those with one disease, and a 5.9-fold increase compared to those without limitations.

Economic and Workday Loss Statistics from Functional Limitations of Chronic Diseases

Results show a significant correlation between functional limitation due to chronic disease and lost workdays. For every 3 days lost by someone without functional limitations, 7 days are lost for those with such. 

University of Notre Dame

According to the Milken Institute (using 2003 NCS-R data), Americans took roughly 3.6 billion days off within a two-year span due to health-related reasons, leading to an estimated \$127 billion loss. Vuong, Wei, and Beverly (2015) focus on how functional limitations due to chronic diseases relate to the loss of workdays and economic income. Notably, many people with chronic illnesses do not experience impediments to their daily activities; such functional limitations vary based on the type and severity of the condition, along with other personal factors.

Absenteeism Due to Chronic Disease Functional Limitations

Vuong, T. D., Wei, F., &amp; Beverly, C. J. (2015). Absenteeism due to functional limitations caused by seven common chronic diseases in US workers. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 57(7), 779–784. https://doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000000452 

Absenteeism Due to Functional Limitations Caused by Seven Common Chronic Diseases in US Workers

- Arthritis/rheumatism
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Lung disease
- Stroke

Vuong Paper: Seven Chronic Diseases Studied for Functional Limitations and Impacts on Economic Input

The authors of the paper suggest to lower absenteeism (and thus loss of workdays and economic income) by improving worker quality of life. One way to do this is through intervention/prevention services provided by empowerment organizations like Stanford CDSMP, which is proven to reduce hospitalization.

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