Workers in the U.S. who, at some point in their lives, have been diagnosed with depression miss an estimated 68 million additional days of work each year than non-depressed workers — resulting in an estimated cost of more than $23 billion in lost productivity annually to U.S. employers. (These findings are based on Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data collected between Jan. 2 2011 and Dec. 30, 2012.)
- Full time 4.3 + days missed more than non-depressed patients
- Part time 5 + days missed more than non-depressed patients
- Depression can be associated with lowered work functioning, including absences, impaired productivity, and decreased job retention.
- Even minor levels of depression symptoms were associated with decrements in work function.
- Among middle-aged women, both obesity and depression are associated with higher health care costs. These cost increases are spread across the full range of outpatient and inpatient health services.
Besides losses from depression…add obesity and low testosterone to the equation.
- Being overweight or obese is associated with depression, most pronounced among Americans.
- Association between low testosterone and depression has been established as well. Abdominal obesity among males may be closely related to depression. Being overweight/obese both in adolescence and adulthood may be a risk for depression among females.
- Depression, which affects approximately 6 million men in the United States, is associated with a high risk of mortality from co-morbid medical illnesses and from suicide.
In a one year controlled study of people with type 2 diabetes and obesity:
- Lifestyle intervention reduced the risk of workdays lost by 64.3%.
- Lifestyle intervention decreased the risk of disability days by 87.2%
- Similar trends were observed among the subset of people with depression.
Testosterone and depression results:
- Research shows men with low testosterone and are depressed men may benefit from testosterone replacement. Some may have “rapid and dramatic recovery”.
- Analysis of the data from seven studies showed a significant positive effect of testosterone therapy in depressed patients when compared with placebo.
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http://www.gallup.com/poll/163619/depression-costs-workplaces-billion-absenteeism.aspx