Objective: To explore return on investment (ROI) in workplace health promotion studies.
Methods: Studies with high ROI attribution for workplace health promotion were reanalyzed using standardized measures. Key variables included intervention duration, sector and population size, annualized cost, and health outcomes.
Results: ROI was often overestimated. Programs with the highest reported ROI were concentrated in large corporations, where cognitive programs incurred low per person costs. Ten of the 12 studies involved individualized health promotion only, and did not engage work organizational modification or integration with occupational health. Some effective health interventions were discounted because they were not easily monetized.
Conclusions: ROI, an investment metric, amplifies short-term labor-related effects and discounts longer-term chronic disease prevention.