![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Background: Productivity losses can arise when employees miss work to seek care for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Objectives: To estimate the average productivity loss per acute case of four non-viral STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis.
Methods: We extracted outpatient claims from 2001-2005 MarketScan databases using international classification disease version 9 (ICD-9) codes. We then linked the extracted outpatient visit claims with their absence records in the Health and Productivity Management (HPM) database (includes linkable records on absence from work and hours absent). To do this, we matched both enrollee identifiers and the dates of service from the outpatient claims such that our final data included only those who were absent because they were sick and also were diagnosed with an STI on the day of their outpatient visit. To ensure that the outpatient visit was exclusively for the STIs being examined, we restricted the extraction criteria to only records with the specified ICD-9 codes (i.e., we excluded claims with other ICD-9 codes). We then estimated the average number of hours absent and then multiplied it by the mean United States (US) hourly wage rate including benefits ($29.72 in 2010 US dollars) to estimate the average productivity loss per case of STD.
Results: The average productivity losses per case of STI were: $270 for chlamydia; $197 for gonorrhea; $420 for syphilis; and $289 for trichomoniasis. There were no significant differences between males and females or among the age groups.
Conclusions: These results suggest that among those who take sick leave to seek care, productivity losses associated with the treatment of non-viral STIs may be higher than their estimated direct medical costs.
Implications for Programs, Policy, and Research: These productivity costs estimates can be used to help quantify the overall burden of STDs and to inform cost-effectiveness analyses of STI prevention and control efforts.