Depressive symptoms and risk of absence among workers in a manufacturing company: a 12-month follow-up study

Abstract

Depression is a leading cause of reduced work ability and absence due to sickness. The objective of this study was to investigate how depressive symptoms are prospectively associated with subsequent absence, whether caused by illness or accidents, among manufacturing workers. This prospective study was conducted on 2,349 male and female employees that underwent a regular health examination at a university hospital. Depressive symptoms were measured at baseline using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. Data on self-reported absence due to illness and accidents were obtained during a follow up of 1 yr. The incidences of sickness absence were 6.0% for men and 17.3% for women. Men and women with depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥16) were found to have higher odds of sickness absence during follow up (men: OR=4.06; 95% CI: 2.32–7.11; women: OR=1.75; 95% CI: 1.02–2.98), after adjustment for demographic and occupational factors. When depressive symptoms were divided into quartiles, significantly higher ORs of sickness absence were observed only among employees with the highest quartile of depressive symptoms. The study shows that depressive symptoms are a risk factor for future absence due to illness or accidents among manufacturing workers.

The Art of Health Promotion: linking research to practice

“…Most employers are aware of the impacts of poor mental health—and of mental illnesses and substance use disorders—in the workplace. Depression, as one example, and its associated absenteeism and presenteeism (ie, the problem of employees who are physically present at work but are not fully functioning because of an illness) 23,24 lead to major losses in productivity, 25 as well as profitability. 26 Similarly, workers with substance use concerns have more absenteeism, which has major economic ramifications.…”

Introducing the Theory of Neurosocial Interdependence

“…Because the symptomological impacts of MDD can be incredibly burdensome to endure due to its chronicity, some individuals might also not have enough energy to engage in activities of daily living (ADLs), such as cleaning their homes (Ojagbemi et al, 2018;Park & Jung, 2019), bathing (Shevchuk, 2008), or eating (Ljungberg et al, 2020). The draining effect of MDD might then spill over into other areas of one's life, such as commitments to attending work or school, spending time with friends or family, and so on (Askeland et al, 2020;Elmer & Stadtfeld, 2020;Lamichhane et al, 2018). The psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic also come to mind, which brought about depressive symptoms in many populations due to prolonged social isolation, among other factors (Renaud-Charest et al, 2021).…”

Workplace mental health screening: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…7 Depressive symptoms are strongly associated with presenteeism and poor job performance. [8][9][10][11][12] Therefore, mental ill health experienced by working individuals represents a considerable burden to individuals, workplaces and society at large. 13 As a result, workplaces are increasingly recognised as a critical platform to implement population mental health interventions.…”