Tanyatorn Ghanjanasak

This research quantified the impact of hand eczema (HE) on US employees. Retrospective observational analysis of real-world data from >500 large, self-insured employers from 2010 through 2024. The database includes detailed workers' compensation (WC) claims: eligibility, duration (days claims were open), medical costs, salary replacement, and absence days. The protocol included employees with medical claims (ICD-10s [L20.x, L23.x, L24.x, L25.x, L30.x] or ICD-9 = 691.x) and WC claims suggestive of HE based on body-parts and nature of injury. The analysis quantified HE-related WC claims: incidence, work loss, costs, and duration. HE-related WC incidence and average cost/claim were reported by industry. Costs inflation-adjusted to December 2024. The analysis identified 1,937 WC claims with study body-part and nature of injury codes, >48,000 employees with medical claims for the study ICD codes. 226 employees met the study criteria and had 6.1 HE-related WC claims/100,000 eligible person-years. Their 226 closed WC claims remained open for a mean of 343 days (SD = 616; median = 121) and cost a mean of $10,197 per claim (SD=$45,172; median=$477), including $4,535 in WC medical costs, $3,992 in salary-replacement costs, and $1,670 in other WC costs. Lost work time occurred in 11.5% (n = 26) of cases, with a mean duration of 277 days (SD = 680; median = 51). HE-related WC incidence was highest in manufacturing (11.2/100,000 person-years) and retail trade (10.5/100,000 person-years). Manufacturing had the highest average cost per claim ($29,587; SD=$94,790) and "healthcare and social assistance" had the highest average lost work time. HE-related WC claims were associated with significant lost work time and costs. Costs approached $30,000 per claim among those in the manufacturing industry. These findings underscore the severe burden of occupational HE and the need for early diagnosis and treatment to limit disability.

ObjectivesThis study investigates the utilization of work absence benefits among United States (US) employees diagnosed with COVID-19, examining frequency, duration, cost, and types of work loss benefits used.MethodsThis retrospective analysis of the Workpartners Research Reference Database (RRDb) included employees eligible for short- and long-term disability (STD and LTD employer-sponsored benefits, respectively), and other paid work absence benefits from 2018-2022. Workpartners RRDb includes over 3.5 million employees from over 500 self-insured employers across the US. Employees were identified by codes from adjudicated medical and disability claims for COVID-19 (2020-2022) and influenza, as well as prescription claims for COVID-19. Associated payments were quantified for each absence reason.ResultsApproximately 1 million employees were eligible for employer-sponsored paid leave benefits between January 2018 and December 2022. The mean age was 37 years (22% >50 years), and 49.9% were female. COVID-19 was the 2^nd most common reason for an STD claim (6.9%) and 13^th for an LTD claim (2020-2022). The mean duration for COVID-19 STD claims was 24 days (N = 3731, mean claim=$3477) versus 10 days for influenza (N = 283, mean claim=$1721). The mean duration for an LTD claim for COVID-19 was 153 days (N = 24, mean claim=$19,254). Only 21.5% of employees with STD claims in the COVID-19 cohort had prior COVID-19-associated medical or pharmacy claims; over half (range 53%-61%) had documented high risk factors for severe COVID-19.ConclusionCOVID-19 and influenza have the potential to cause work loss in otherwise healthy employees. In this analysis, COVID-19 was the second most frequent reason for an STD claim at the start of the pandemic and remained high (ranked 5^th) in 2022. These results highlight the impact of COVID-19 on work loss beyond the acute phase. Comprehensively evaluating work loss implications may help employers prioritize strategies, such as vaccinations and timely treatments, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on employees and their companies.