The Association of Health Status, Worksite Fitness Center Participation, and Two Measures of Productivity

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Abstract
We sought to examine the associations between participation in a worksite fitness center and worker productivity. A modified Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) and employees’ short-term disability claims were used as productivity measures with multivariate logistic regression models to control for health risk, age, gender, and work location. Nonparticipants in a worksite fitness center were more likely to report health-related work productivity limitations for time management (odds ratio [OR] = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09–2.41), physical work (OR = 1.58, CI = 1.03–2.43), output limitations (OR = 2.24, CI = 1.01–2.12), and overall work impairment (OR = 1.41, CI = 1.00–1.96) than fitness center participants. Fitness center participation also was associated with 1.3 days fewer short-term disability days per year per employee (P = 0.02) and 0.39 fewer health risks (P = 0.01). These results support the association of worksite fitness center participants with improved worker productivity and fewer short-term disability workdays lost.