United States: Sixty percent of workers with heart disease, asthma, or diabetes chose to conceal their medical conditions at work even though chronic disease plagues most US workers.
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According to new survey findings, more than one-third of persistent medical condition workers skipped essential medical care during the last year because of work-related impediments.
According to the survey lead author Gillian SteelFisher, “Workers commonly feel stigmatized by their conditions, and this can have a profound effect on both their work and their health,” US News reported.
Research staff conducted the new poll back in early October during the previous year. A study obtained nationwide statistics from 1,010 individuals who were either full-time or part-time employees in organizations that employed 50 or more staff members.
Among those polled, a significant percentage, representing 58 percent, reported having at least one chronic medical problem, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or asthma.
Most people who needed work time and resources for health management (76 percent) never specified to their superiors about having a chronic health condition.
As per SteelFisher, “Though employers may think they know their employees’ needs, poll results suggest there are widespread and frequently hidden challenges facing workers with chronic conditions,” US News reported.
How was the survey concluded?
The survey saw health side-effects affecting the health of workers and employment in several ways:
- Of the workers managing chronic health conditions, 36 percent reported having disruptions or care delays because of their work responsibilities.
- A large proportion of 49 percent declared they lacked opportunities to take sick leave for medical reasons while simultaneously expressing the need to address their health concerns during work hours.
- Workers who have chronic health conditions indicated that their health troubles contributed to not getting promotions last year through their surveys, affecting 25 percent of employees, while 21 percent received negative work evaluations because of their health conditions.
Survey results showed that one-third of respondents found themselves in this situation, while almost half of those people (45 percent) needed to provide sick dependent care during their working days.
Although there are 37 percent of the people who had a chronically ill family member mentioned that they had a tough time taking time off to help those of their loved ones, a quarter said they had to cut back on working hours (and income) to manage the situation.