Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 May 10:4:2055207618770861.
doi: 10.1177/2055207618770861. eCollection 2018 Jan-Dec.

The impact of digital health interventions on health-related outcomes in the workplace: A systematic review

Ana Howarth  1   2 , Jose Quesada  3 , Jessica Silva  1 , Stephanie Judycki  1 , Peter R Mills  1   4
Affiliations
Review

The impact of digital health interventions on health-related outcomes in the workplace: A systematic review

Ana Howarth et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Background: The impact of employee health on productivity in the workplace is generally evidenced through absenteeism and presenteeism. Multicomponent worksite health programmes, with significant online elements, have gained in popularity over the last two decades, due in part to their scalability and low cost of implementation. However, little is known about the impact of digital-only interventions on health-related outcomes in employee groups. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the impact of pure digital health interventions in the workplace on health-related outcomes.

Methods: Multiple databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed and PsycINFO, were used to review the literature using PRISMA guidelines.

Results: Of 1345 records screened, 22 randomized controlled trial studies were found to be eligible. Although there was a high level of heterogeneity across these studies, significant improvements were found for a broad range of outcomes such as sleep, mental health, sedentary behaviours and physical activity levels. Standardized measures were not always used to quantify intervention impact. All but one study resulted in at least one significantly improved health-related outcome, but attrition rates ranged widely, suggesting sustaining engagement was an issue. Risk of bias assessment was low for one-third of the studies and unclear for the remaining ones.

Conclusions: This review found modest evidence that digital-only interventions have a positive impact on health-related outcomes in the workplace. High heterogeneity impacted the ability to confirm what interventions might work best for which health outcomes, although less complex health outcomes appeared to be more likely to be impacted. A focus on engagement along with the use of standardized measures and reporting of active intervention components would be helpful in future evaluations.

Keywords: Digital health; e-health; health promotion; internet-based interventions; occupational health; systematic review; workplace interventions; workplace well-being.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram illustrating screening of studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rizzo JA, Zyczynski TM, Chen J, Mallow PJ, Trudel GC, Penrod JR. Lost labor productivity costs of prostate cancer to patients and their spouses. J Occup Environ Med 2016; 58(4): 351–358. - PubMed
    1. Henke RM, Carls GS, Short ME, Pei X, Wang S, Moley S, et al. The relationship between health risks and health and productivity costs among employees at Pepsi Bottling Group. J Occup Environ Med 2010; 52(5): 519–527. - PubMed
    1. Durden ED, Huse D, Ben-Joseph R, Chu B-C. Economic costs of obesity to self-insured employers. J Occup Environ Med 2008; 50(9): 991–997. - PubMed
    1. Ozminkowski RJ, Wang S, Walsh JK. The direct and indirect costs of untreated insomnia in adults in the United States. Sleep 2007; 30(3): 263–273. - PubMed
    1. Tsai SP, Ahmed FS, Wendt JK, Bhojani F, Donnelly RP. The impact of obesity on illness absence and productivity in an industrial population of petrochemical workers. Ann Epidemiol 2008; 18(1): 8–14. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources