Prediction of prospective medical claims and absenteeism costs for 1284 hourly workers from a manufacturing company.

Multivariate regression models were developed to predict the employer's economic costs (medical claims payments and loss from employees' absenteeism) from selected health-related measures among 1284 hourly employees. Twelve health-related measures, mainly from a Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) completed in 1985, were selected as predictors. Regression models were developed according to the economic measures for the three subgroups (men under 35, men 35 or older, and women). All the regression models significantly predicted economic costs from selected health-related measures with a multiple R2 range of .23 to .13 (P less than .001).