The HPQ Initiative grew out of a simple observation: that lack of information about the quality of services hampers the efficiency of employer health care purchasing. Purchasers have ways to evaluate the quality of the materials they purchase. They have ways to evaluate the cost-savings created by production technology innovations. They have ways to evaluate the effects of direct-to-consumer ad campaigns, but they generally do not have comparable ways to evaluate the effects of investments in employee health care. We set out to change this situation in order to increase the rationality of employed-sponsored health care purchasing.

Click here to view the HPQ surveys and informational documents.

Studies of HPQ Reliability and Validity
Click the links below to view HPQ reliability and validity abstracts.

Kessler, R.C., Barber, C., Beck, A., Berglund, P., Cleary, P.D., McKenas, D., Pronk, N., Simon, G., Stang, P., Üstün, T.U., Wang, P. (2003). The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 45 (2), 156-174. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R.C., Ames, M., Hymel, P.A., Loeppke, R., McKenas, D.K., Richling, D., Stang, P.E., Ustun, T.B. (2004). Using the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ) to evaluate the indirect workplace costs of illness. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(Suppl 6), S23-S37. PubMed Abstract

Pournik, O., Ghalichi, L., Tehrani Yazdi, A. R., Tabatabaee, S. M., Ghaffari, M., & Vingard, E. (2012). Reliability and validity of Persian version of World Health Organization health and work performance questionnaire in Iranian health care workers. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 3(1), 33-38. PubMed Abstract

Scuffham, P. A., Vecchio, N., & Whiteford, H. A. (2014). Exploring the validity of HPQ-based presenteeism measures to estimate productivity losses in the health and education sectors. Medical Decision Making, 34(1), 127-137. PubMed Abstract

Click the links below to view HPQ abstracts.

Bernaards, C. M., Proper, K. I., & Hildebrandt, V. H. (2007). Physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body mass index in relationship to work productivity and sickness absence in computer workers with preexisting neck and upper limb symptoms. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 49(6), 633-640. PubMed Abstract

Deckersbach, T., Stange, J. P., & Nierenberg, A. A. (2011). Norms for performance in the workplace in healthy people: data from the national comorbidity survey replication study. CNS Spectrums, 16(7), 143-152. PubMed Abstract

Furukawa, T. A., Horikoshi, M., Kawakami, N., Kadota, M., Sasaki, M., Sekiya, Y., et al. (2012). Telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy for subthreshold depression and presenteeism in workplace: a randomized controlled trial. Plos One, 7(4), e35330. PubMed Abstract

Geraedts, A. S., Kleiboer, A. M., Twisk, J., Wiezer, N. M., van Mechelen, W., & Cuijpers, P. (2014). Long-term results of a web-based guided self-help intervention for employees with depressive symptoms: randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(7), e168. PubMed Abstract

Geraedts, A. S., Kleiboer, A. M., Wiezer, N. M., van Mechelen, W., & Cuijpers, P. (2014). Short-term effects of a web-based guided self-help intervention for employees with depressive symptoms: randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(5), e121. PubMed Abstract

Hilton, M. F., Staddon, Z., Sheridan, J., & Whiteford, H. A. (2009). The impact of mental health symptoms on heavy goods vehicle drivers' performance. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 41(3), 453-461. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R. C., Adler, L., Ames, M., Barkley, R. A., Birnbaum, H., Greenberg, P., et al. (2005). The prevalence and effects of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder on work performance in a nationally representative sample of workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 47(6), 565-572. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R.C., Ames, M., Hymel, P.A., Loeppke, R., McKenas, D.K., Richling, D., Stang, P.E., Ustun, T.B. (2004). Using the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ) to evaluate the indirect workplace costs of illness. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(Suppl 6), S23-S37. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R.C., Barber, C., Beck, A., Berglund, P., Cleary, P.D., McKenas, D., Pronk, N., Simon, G., Stang, P., Üstün, T.U., Wang, P. (2003). The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 45 (2), 156-174. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P. A., Coulouvrat, C., Hajak, G., Roth, T., Shahly, V., et al. (2011). Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America insomnia survey. Sleep, 34(9), 1161-1171. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R. C., Lane, M., Stang, P. E., & Van Brunt, D. L. (2009). The prevalence and workplace costs of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a large manufacturing firm. Psychological Medicine, 39(1), 137-147. PubMed Abstract

Kessler, R. C., Maclean, J. R., Petukhova, M., Sarawate, C. A., Short, L., Li, T. T., et al. (2008). The effects of rheumatoid arthritis on labor force participation, work performance, and healthcare costs in two workplace samples. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 50(1), 88-98. PubMed Abstract

Lee Park, Y., Kim, W., Chae, J. H., Seo Oh, K., Frick, K. D., & Woo, J. M. (2014). Impairment of work productivity in panic disorder patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 157, 60-65. PubMed Abstract

Loeppke, R., Taitel, M., Richling, D., Parry, T., Kessler, R. C., Hymel, P., et al. (2007). Health and productivity as a business strategy. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 49(7), 712-721. PubMed Abstract

Mills, P. R. (2005). The development of a new corporate specific health risk measurement instrument, and its use in investigating the relationship between health and well-being and employee productivity. Environmental Health, 4(1), 1. PubMed Abstract

Wang, P. S., Simon, G. E., Avorn, J., Azocar, F., Ludman, E. J., McCulloch, J., et al. (2007). Telephone screening, outreach, and care management for depressed workers and impact on clinical and work productivity outcomes: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 298(12), 1401-1411. PubMed Abstract

Zhang, W., Gignac, M. A., Beaton, D., Tang, K., & Anis, A. H. (2010). Productivity loss due to presenteeism among patients with arthritis: estimates from 4 instruments. Journal of Rheumatology, 37(9), 1805-1814. PubMed Abstract