Establishing links between health and productivity in the New Zealand workforce.

Objective: To provide the first investigation of individual health behaviors and measures of work performance in New Zealand.

Methods: Health risk assessments were completed by 747 adults aged 18 to 65 years. Associations between measures of productivity and health risk factors were assessed using multiple stepwise regression.

Results: Participants with low to moderate psychological distress levels and who were physically active reported a work performance 6.5% (P < 0.001) and 3.5% (P < 0.001) higher, respectively. Furthermore, high psychological distress and smoking accounted for 16.8 (P < 0.001) and 11.6 (P = 0.038) additional absentee hours over the previous 4 weeks.

Conclusions: The impact that psychological distress, physical inactivity, and smoking have on productivity suggests that employers may benefit from contributing to health promotion within the workplace.