OBJECTIVES: The common cold affects 5-10% of the workforce and causes productivity losses costing billions of dollars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of vitamin C in white-collar workers and its impact on medical care costs and its impact on the workforce in association with the common cold.

METHODS: The study evaluated the impact of daily 1000 mg vitamin C supplementation on labor and potential healthcare costs. The number of seasonal flu attacks, the duration of these attacks, the duration of absence and the cost of medical treatment were obtained by taking the weighted average of the studies in the literature. In addition, data on monthly net income and percentages of white-collar workers in Turkey were obtained from the data published for Turkey and updated according to the inflation rate.

RESULTS: As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that the duration of colds decreased by 0.47 days, the number of absent days from work due to the flu decreased by 0.70 days, the number of unproductive work days decreased by 1.22 days and the total loss of work days decreased by 1.05 days in the case of vitamin C use. Calculations show that the cost of medical treatment (TRY6.787 vs TRY7.279) and loss of work (TRY7.410 vs TRY9.356) in the common cold offer lower costs for those who use vitamin C. Although the cost of 6-month vitamin c supplementation offers an additional cost of TRY1,739, in the case of using vitamin C, the total treatment cost is TRY698 more affordable than in the case of not using it.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this analysis suggest that regular vitamin C supplementation could potentially have a preventive effect on the impact of the common cold, both in terms of public health and the economic burden it imposes.