Table 3. Annual Cost of Absenteeism Borne by US Employers Because of Selected Health Risk Factors or Chronic Diseases Among Employees^a .

Risk Factor or Disease	Prevalence, %b	No. of People in US Workforce With Condition, in Millionsc	No. of Excess Missed Workdaysd per Employee per Yeare	Cost per Employee per Year, $f	Total US Cost per Year, Billions, $g	US Cost Scenarioh, Lower–Upper, Billions, $
	A	B	C	D	E	F
Current smoking	17.0	23.6	0.58	153	3.6	1.6–5.9
Physical inactivity	39.7	55.2	0.63	166	9.1	3.9–14.6
Obesity	30.0	41.6	1.02	269	11.2	4.8–17.9
Hypertension	24.9	34.6	1.13	298	10.3	4.4–16.5
Diabetes	6.0	8.3	1.03	272	2.2	0.9–3.5

Abbreviation: MEPS, Medical Panel Expenditure Survey

^a Data sources: MarketScan and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey [19], 2008–2011. MarketScan is a large US commercial health care claims database; it is a de-identified convenience subpopulation of privately insured individuals (18).

^b Prevalence estimate from MEPS data (A).

^c Assumes workforce population of 139 million people: B = A × 139 million.

^d Number of excess missed workdays defined as the difference in the number of days missed from work by those who reported having a risk factor or chronic disease and those who did not.

^e C = MEPS regression estimates for single factor or disease, full model (Table 2).

^f Assumes an average employment cost of $33.00 per hour and an 8-hour work day (in 2015 dollars): D = C × 8 × 33.

^g Total cost (E) = B × D in 2015 dollars.

^h Lower and upper cost scenarios based on multipliers of 0.43 and 1.6 respectively: lower value = 0.43 × E; upper value = 1.6 × E.