8287103 Productivity losses due to acute COVID-19 disease and post COVID-19 condition: Results from the longitudinal Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort

<h3>Objective</h3> COVID-19 has negatively impacted workers’ productivity, making them unable to work and causing difficulties to perform work and home tasks. Those with post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) potentially experienced productivity loss for longer periods of time. However, the extent and severity of productivity loss due to these conditions is still largely unmeasured, especially across multiple dimensions of productivity, as most studies have focused on absence. This study thus aimed to more accurately quantify productivity loss due to acute COVID-19 and PCC across the pandemic, in terms of absenteeism, presenteeism and unpaid work. <h3>Material and Methods</h3> Data from workers in the Lifelines COVID-19 cohort with information on productivity loss (N=10,750) from 2020-2022 was used. Participants were grouped as having acute COVID-19, PCC, or sickness absence due to another reason. Productivity loss was quantified in euros using the friction cost method. We performed a two-step quantile regression to investigate the association of acute COVID-19 and PCC to productivity losses. <h3>Results</h3> Those with PCC had higher average total productivity losses (5,823€) when compared to those with acute COVID-19 (2,734€) and without COVID-19 (3,766€). While both acute COVID-19 and PCC were associated with higher costs (&gt;200%) at lower quantiles, only PCC remained significantly and positively associated with higher losses at higher quantiles (28%) when compared to those without COVID-19. The majority of the association is due to effects of PCC on unpaid work (85% increased losses at the 90th quantile). <h3>Conclusion</h3> PCC is associated with large productivity losses when compared to acute COVID-19 and other illnesses, especially in unpaid work. Acute COVID-19, despite being associated with high losses at low quantiles, does not represent a lasting effect for workers’ productivity. This study stresses the high cost of acute COVID-19 and PCC and the importance of unpaid work in productivity studies.