Productivity Losses Due to Major Chronic Behavioral Health Problems

Aggregate productivity losses (employment, and household productivity) from alcohol and drug disorders are very comparable to those for the other selected disorders with health behavior elements. Note that a major part of the lost productivity for alcohol abuse is associated with alcoholics "on the job", but working at impaired levels of effectiveness, while drug abuse costs are elevated primarily because about a small minority of drug addicts "drop out" of the legitimate labor market for crime careers.

Source: National Institutes of Health (1997). Disease-Specific Estimates of Direct and Indirect Costs of Illness and NIH Update. Department of Health and Human Services.

BACK