Health-related factors associated with the healthcare costs of office workers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the relative importance of factors associated with total health care costs (THC) among office workers. Methods: Biometric and anthropometric values, health-related survey responses, and THC for 214 employees were analyzed. Factors that had a statistically significant (P < 0.05) bivariate correlation with logarithmically transformed THC data were entered into multiple regression analysis. Results: Age, gender, and SF-36 physical component summary score were identified as THC predictors (F 3210 ) = 20.78, P< 0.001, R 2 adj = 0.218). With physical component summary score excluded, age, gender, and exercise level collectively accounted for an almost identical amount of variance (F 3210 = 19.64, P < 0.001, R 2 adj = 0.212). Factorial ANOVA identified a significant interaction between age category and exercise level (F 3198 = 3.04, P = 0.030). Conclusions: Inactivity was the only modifiable factor found to be predictive of THC, which appears to have an increasing effect with advancing age.