الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Chronic diseases (or NCDs) are the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income. They are associated with a broad spectrum of functional alterations that impact all aspects of life, including social, economic, daily-living, recreational, and vocational activities. In the working population, there is a growing concern regarding the impact of chronic physical and mental diseases on work productivity, business profitability, and cost of lost productivity. Therefore, the present study was carried out as a retrospective cohort study to characterize the burden of chronic diseases among the working population and to test for its association with functioning, general and work disabilities, productivity loss, and the cost of productivity loss.
Two groups of workers (258 each) were identified retrospectively based on the status of the chronic disease (Yes/No) within a cohort of shipyard workers (from Arab Contractors shipyard and Suez Canal Authority shipyard) in Ismailia governorate, Egypt. Participants were selected using a stratified random sampling method taking into account the proportionate distribution of workers by work nature (white vs. blue-collar) and worksite. Then, participants were interviewed using an HPQ-adapted questionnaire and the WHO-DAS 2.0 questionnaire. Upon the completion of data collection, data were manipulated and statistically analyzed using SAS program. The main outcome measures in this study included: general and work disabilities, work productivity (absenteeism, presenteeism, and net negative excess critical incidents), and the cost of productivity loss; while the main exposure variable was the chronic diseases status or the number of chronic diseases a worker might have. Then, basic and advanced statistical methods were used to test for our hypotheses. The propensity score was calculated and utilized to construct a matched dataset in which all observed confounders were balanced across the study groups.