The predictive value of mental health for long-term sickness absence: the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) compared

Abstract

BackgroundQuestionnaires are valuable for population surveys of mental health. Different survey instruments may however give different results. The present study compares two mental health instruments, the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5), in regard to their prediction of long-term sickness absence.MethodQuestionnaire data was collected from N = 4153 Danish employees. The questionnaire included the MDI and the MHI-5. The information of long-term sickness absence was obtained from a register. We used Cox regression to calculate covariance adjusted hazard ratios for long-term sickness absence for both measures.ResultsBoth the MDI and the MHI-5 had a highly significant prediction of long-term sickness absence. A one standard deviation change in score was associated with an increased risk of long-term sickness absence of 27% for the MDI and 37% for the MHI-5. When both measures were included in the same analysis, the MHI-5 performed best.ConclusionIn general population surveys, the MHI-5 is a better predictor of long-term sickness absence than the MDI.

Environmental Noise Annoyance and Mental Health in Adults: Findings from the Cross-Sectional German Health Update (GEDA) Study 2012

“…The MHI-5 score is often transformed into a binary variable with reference to an external criterion, such as (not) having a mental disorder characterised by considerable mental impairments. Following the literature [30,31,32], a rather conservative cut point of 52 was chosen for this analysis: a MHI-5 score of 52 or below was classified as “impaired mental health”.…”

Employment insecurity and employees' health in Denmark

“…The internal consistency (alpha coefficients) of both EVI and MHI scales is good (0.8 for MHI and 0.82 for EVI) and produces reliable Cronbach's alpha values (Bland & Altman, ). A number of validation studies for northern European countries (including Denmark) show that a value below or equal the cut‐off point 72 (psychological distress) in the MHI is highly correlated with psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression (Thorsen, Rugulies, Hjarsbech, & Bjorner, ). In the MHI distribution, 72 correspond to the 10th percentile.…”

Unnecessary work tasks and mental health: a prospective analysis of Danish human service workers

“…According to the World Health Organization, mental health is not only defined by the absence of mental disorder, but is "… a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community" (5, p2). Reduced mental health is not only inextricably linked with lowered quality of life (5,6), but also bears economic and societal costs, including substantially increased risk of long-term sickness absence, even at levels well below established clinical cut-off points for mental disorder (7)(8)(9)(10)(11) Previous literature linking the psychosocial work environment with reduced mental health has mainly focused on a relatively limited range of factors, including job strain, effort-reward imbalance, social support, and bullying (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Norbert Semmer et al's "stressas-offense-to-self" framework (18) suggests new condi-…”