The cost of productivity losses associated with allergic rhinitis

Objective: To measure the cost of absenteeism and reduced productivity asso ciated with allergic rhinitis. Methods: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used to obtain inf ormation on days lost from work and lost productivity due to allergic rhini tis. Wage estimates for occupations obtained from the Bureau of Labor Stati stics (BLS) were used to calculate the costs. Results: Productivity losses associated with a diagnosis of allergic rhinit is in the 1995 NHIS were estimated to be $601 million. When additional surv ey information on the use of sedating over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medica tions, as well as workers' self-assessments of their reduction in at-work p roductivity due to allergic rhinitis, were considered, the estimated produc tivity loss increased dramatically. At-work productivity losses were estima ted to range from $2.4 billion to $4.6 billion. Conclusion: Despite the inherent difficulty of measuring productivity losse s, our lowest estimate is several times higher than previous estimates of t he indirect medical costs associated with allergic rhinitis treatment. The most significant productivity losses resulted not from absenteeism but from reduced at-work productivity associated with the use of sedating OTC antih istamines.