DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DESCRIPTIVE AND MULTIVARIATE ESTIMATES OF THE IMPACT OF CHEVRON-CORPORATIONS HEALTH QUEST PROGRAM ON MEDICAL EXPENDITURES

This investigation focused on alternative methods for evaluating the i mpact of Chevron Corporation's Health Quest Fitness Center program on Chevron Corporation's Health Quest Fitness center program on medical e xpenditures, comparing descriptive and multivariate research designs. Many uncontrolled studies of corporate health management programs base estimates of program effectiveness on descriptive analyses such as St udent's t tests. Unlike more sophisticated multivariate analyses, desc riptive analyses often produce biased estimates of program cost saving s. To test alternative research design methods, the investigators comp ared inpatient and pharmacy expenditures for program participants and non-participants over a 2.5-year period, using descriptive and multiva riate regression analyses. Results showed that compared with non-parti cipants, expenditures for participants were significantly lower for su bjects who used a Health Quest fitness center at least twice weekly. P revious descriptive studies suggested a much broader impact. The resul ts underscore the need to use multivariate analyses when evaluating th e financial impact of corporate health management programs, especially when randomization cannot be used to assign participation status.