The impact of co-morbid mental and physical disorders on presenteeism

Abstract

Objectives This study sought to: (i) explore the impact of mood disorders (such as depression, bipolar disorder, mania, or dysthymia) and five age-related chronic physical conditions (arthritis, back pain, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension) on presenteeism (as indicated by self-reported activity limitations at work), and (ii) examine how mood disorders interact with each physical condition to affect this work outcome.Methods Using Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) data, we modeled the relationships between selfreported restrictions at work and each health condition. We then calculated synergy indices (SI) for the interaction between mood disorders and each of the five physical conditions.Results All six health conditions were associated with presenteeism. The strongest association was observed for back pain [prevalence ratio (PR) 2.70, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.57-2.83] and the weakest for hypertension (PR 1.18, 95% CI 1.11-1.25). The unadjusted SI indicated no interactions between mood disorders and any of the physical conditions, while the adjusted SI indicated statistically significant interactions between mood disorders and each of the five physical conditions. The statistically significant adjusted interactions were in a negative direction, such that having a mood disorder concurrent with a chronic physical condition was associated with a lower burden of presenteeism than expected. Post-hoc analyses revealed that this unexpected finding was attributable to adjustment for other co-morbid health conditions, particularly arthritis and back pain. ConclusionsOur results suggest that targeting chronic physical conditions or mood disorders may be productive in reducing presenteeism. The combined effect on presenteeism when the two types of conditions occur simultaneously is similar to the additive effect of these conditions when each occurs in isolation.

Healthy and productive workers: using intervention mapping to design a workplace health promotion and wellness program to improve presenteeism

“…Depression is one of the most debilitating diseases that can have significant effects on employees, co-workers, family members, and society [21–23]. Major depression is currently a leading cause of disability worldwide [23].…”

Factors of occurrence and improvement methods of presenteeism attributed to diabetes: A systematic review

“…Diabetic neuropathy is 1 of the 3 major complications arising from long‐term poor glycemic control, and it is observed that when the pain becomes stronger, larger productivity loss occurs . Although the exact cause remains unclear, diabetes has a high incidence of mood disorders as with other chronic diseases . Presenteeism increases with both diabetes and mood disorders, although the interaction is not recognized.…”

“…As a result of the evaluation, they had a low quality of evidence. However, it was found that the associations of hypoglycemia, 31-39 diabetic neuropathy, 22,[40][41][42][43] and mood disorders with presenteeism 44,45 had been relatively well studied in this review. This is probably because these comorbidities and complications occur relatively frequently, and reasonably high presenteeism may occur due to accompanying symptoms.…”

“…42 Although the exact cause remains unclear, diabetes has a high incidence of mood disorders as with other chronic diseases. 44 Presenteeism increases with both diabetes and mood disorders, although the interaction is not recognized. It is also thought that mood disorders affect diabetes control.…”

The relationship between organizational policies and practices and work limitations among hospital patient care workers

“…The ways in which chronic health problems impact one’s experience at work has been explored among groups of workers with specific health conditions such as depression (9), back pain (10), and arthritis (11), and in multiple industries including financial services (12), laboratory sciences (13), and health care (14–16). In general, the findings of these studies suggest that as chronic health conditions worsen, an individual’s work experience is adversely affected.…”