Measuring and valuing the lost productivity due to knee osteoarthritis and its effective factors among military personnel

Background and Aim: Promoting productivity of military personnel has a key role in enhancing security-defense capabilities and reducing costs. Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common causes of disability and lost productivity of military personnel. The aim of this study was to measure the lost productivity due to knee osteoarthritis and identify its influencing factors in military personnel.
Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study that included140 military personnel with knee osteoarthritis who visited the military physical therapy clinic in Tehran in 2018. Subjects were randomly selected and entered in the study after completing the informed consent form. All data related to days and hours of absenteeism, hours of work without productivity and disability in doing military tasks were collected using the Valuation of Lost Productivity (VOLP) questionnaire and analyzed by Stata software. Factors affecting lost productivity and its importance were investigated through the estimation ordered logistic regression and through calculation of odds ratio.
Results: Of the participants, 63.4% were male and more than half (59%) were37‒46 years old. 40% of patients had been absent from work in the past three months due to their knee osteoarthritis. The maximum length of time of work in this period was 5 days. A total of 104 participants (74.3%) reported that due to knee osteoarthritis, in the last 3 months they have had difficulty at work, compared to their colleagues. 50% of participants (N=70) believed that they would be able to do their jobs in less time if they had no disease. The average amount of lost productivity due to knee osteoarthritis in a 3 month period was 76 hours, or 9 working days for each participant. The average value of lost productivity due to knee osteoarthritis in the past three months was estimated at 9,527,271 Rial or 226 US$ for each participant. This lost productivity was significantly affected by sex, household size, time of onset of illness and the level of teamwork (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Knee osteoarthritis leads to a significant reduction in working efficiency of military personnel. More attention should be paid to screening chronic diseases, especially the knee osteoarthritis, at the time of recruitment of military personnel. Strategies should be developed for the prevention and timely diagnosis of chronic diseases to reduce disability and occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders in the armed forces.