Understanding work productivity and its application to work-related musculoskeletal disorders

Work productivity is key to understanding health burden and cost associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD). As a concept and as an outcome measure, however, work productivity has been defined in various ways and perspectives, disease and occupational settings, and personal and environmental contextualization. This has resulted in a lack of agreement in the application and measurement of work productivity.This paper presents a conceptual model of work productivity—within the area of paid work and within the context of WMSD. A discussion is provided on the two components of work productivity, which are perceived and observed and between absenteeism and presenteeism as sub-components of work productivity. An accurate measurement of work productivity is crucial to initiating, evaluating, and monitoring work disability management like employee wellness and ergonomics programs, and clinical interventions in WMSD. Finally, this paper presents a list of research agenda that can influence the ways we make use of work productivity as an outcome measure in capturing WMSD-associated socioeconomic burden and in evaluating WMSD management programs.Relevance to industryA conceptual framework that accurately and adequately captures work productivity in industrial settings is important to evaluate and advance work disability management.