[BE WELL!] Lower wellbeing linked to new chronic conditions
A recent Gallup study of 3,654 working adults over a three-year period shows that US workers who have poor wellbeing across most or all of Gallup’s five essential elements of wellbeing were about twice as likely to report a major new chronic condition over the study period. Those five elements are:
- Career wellbeing: You like what you do every day.
- Social wellbeing: You have meaningful friendships in your life.
- Financial wellbeing: You manage your money well.
- Physical wellbeing: You have energy to get things done.
- Community wellbeing: You like where you live.
Overall, workers with poor wellbeing (defined as having high wellbeing in one or none of the five elements) developed 450 new chronic conditions per 1,000 persons three years after being initially interviewed. Those with inconsistent wellbeing (i.e., high wellbeing in two to four of the elements) added 330 new chronic conditions per 1,000 persons in the same period, whereas workers with holistic wellbeing (i.e., high wellbeing in all five elements) added 230 new chronic conditions per 1,000.
As such, out of every 1,000 full-time working adults with either poor or inconsistent wellbeing, the increased odds of developing or experiencing new diseases or medical conditions are associated with an extra 159 chronic conditions over the 36-month measurement period than what would otherwise be expected if all 1,000 workers had holistically high wellbeing.
Eight disease diagnoses were tracked in this research: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, anxiety, back pain, insomnia and having a heart attack.
Gallup researchers conclude, “The data highlighted here underscore the likelihood that achieving high wellbeing across the five elements will reduce the chances of developing new diseases over a three-year period, thus realizing an estimated $101 billion in savings in healthcare expenditures each year.”
To read/download graphics of the all the survey results, click here
To learn more about employee wellbeing and Gallup workplace surveys, click here
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