THE RELATIONSHIP OF AN EMPLOYEE FITNESS PROGRAM TO COST-CONTAINMENT VARIABLES OF ABSENTEEISM AND MEDICAL COSTS (INDUSTRY, HEALTH, WELLNESS, NURSING)

Scope and Method of Study. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze data regarding the influence of an employee fitness program upon cost-containment variables of unavoidable absenteeism and medical costs. Data were obtained for a large industry in the Midwest with a known fitness program. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference between employees on a fitness program and employees not on a fitness program in regard to absenteeism and medical costs at the .05 level of confidence using the left-tailed Z test.;Findings and Conclusions. Utilizing the left-tailed Z test at the .05 level of confidence the variables of absenteeism in the exercise group was found to be significant. The null hypothesis was rejected regarding absenteeism. The null hypothesis was not rejected regarding medical costs as the left-tailed Z test was not significant at the .05 level of confidence. However, there was a difference in medical costs in favor of the exercisers. The average medical claim for the two years for the exercise group was ;The population of the study consisted of men between the ages of 50-59. This group was chosen as it constituted the group with the greatest medical claims. These claims were particularly large when related to cardiovascular illness. Regarding absenteeism, there were 70 men in the exercise group and 108 men in the control group. Their numbers were different from the original totals since men with medical costs beyond 2.5 standard deviations from the mean were eliminated from the study.