The Association Between PHQ-9 and Fitness for Work Among Depressive Patients

Abstract

Objective: One of the tools to assess depression severity is the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Our aim was to investigate the correlation between PHQ-9 scores and fitness for work (FFW) in major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: A cross-sectional study in patients who were evaluated for their FFW and later compared with PHQ-9. Results: Questionnaires were collected for 125 patients. A negative correlation between depression severity and absolute working ability (WA) was found for both women (β = –0.4, P < 0.001) and men (β = –0.4, P = 0.05). Multivariate linear regression revealed a negative correlation between WA and depression severity based on PHQ-9 scores (β = –0.4, P < 0.05). Conclusions: A negative correlation exists between absolute and relative WA and depression severity, meaning, with the higher severity of depression the lower the WA.

Depression and loneliness may predict work inefficiency among professionally active adults

“…The association between depression and inefficiency at work appears to be well-established and was confirmed in the present study. The clinical manifestation of affective disorder is related to poor functional outcome and thus low work ability, particularly if symptoms like low energy, susceptibility to fatigue, lack of motivation or executive dysfunction (due to complaints of memory and attention disturbances) are more pronounced (Zack et al 2020 ; Warren et al 2021 ). This association may be independent of job characteristics, which was also seen in the current study as the constructed models were adjusted for a series of work-related factors (Zack et al 2020 ; Päivärinne et al 2021 ).…”

“…The clinical manifestation of affective disorder is related to poor functional outcome and thus low work ability, particularly if symptoms like low energy, susceptibility to fatigue, lack of motivation or executive dysfunction (due to complaints of memory and attention disturbances) are more pronounced (Zack et al 2020 ; Warren et al 2021 ). This association may be independent of job characteristics, which was also seen in the current study as the constructed models were adjusted for a series of work-related factors (Zack et al 2020 ; Päivärinne et al 2021 ). In a recent meta-analysis, depressive symptoms have been shown to increase the risk of sick leave, with the effect being more pronounced for men (Amiri and Behnezhad 2021 ).…”