Update of the fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to psychosocial work factors in Europe

Abstract

Objectives The objectives of this study were to provide the fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to five psychosocial work exposures, i.e. job strain, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity, long working hours, and bullying in Europe (35 countries, including 28 European Union countries), for each one and all countries together, in 2015. Methods The prevalences of exposure were estimated using the sample of 35,571 employees from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) for all countries together and each country separately. Relative risks (RR) were obtained via literature reviews and meta-analyses already published. The studied outcomes were: coronary/ischemic heart diseases (CHD), stroke, atrial fibrillation, peripheral artery disease, venous thromboembolism, and depression. Attributable fractions (AF) for each exposure and overall AFs for all exposures together were calculated. Results The AFs of depression were all significant: job strain (17%), job insecurity (9%), bullying (7%), and effort-reward imbalance (6%). Most of the AFs of cardiovascular diseases were significant and lower than 11%. Differences in AFs were observed between countries for depression and for long working hours. Differences between genders were found for long working hours, with higher AFs observed among men than among women for all outcomes. Overall AFs taking all exposures into account ranged between 17 and 35% for depression and between 5 and 11% for CHD. Conclusion The overall burden of depression and cardiovascular diseases attributable to psychosocial work exposures was noticeable. As these exposures are modifiable, preventive policies may be useful to reduce the burden of disease associated with the psychosocial work environment.

Associations between workplace bullying and later benefit recipiency among workers with common mental disorders

“…Exposure to bullying at the workplace is detrimental for health (Verkuil et al 2015) and is also an important risk factor for expulsion from working life (Niedhammer et al 2013). Targets of bullying consistently report reduced work ability due to both mental and somatic health complaints (Nielsen and Einarsen 2012;Verkuil et al 2015;Leach et al 2020;Lever et al 2019;Romero Starke et al 2020;Niedhammer et al 2021;Xu et al 2019), higher levels of sick leave (Niedhammer et al 2013;Nielsen et al 2016;Eriksen et al 2013;Lesuffleur et al 2014), and increased risk of disability retirement (Nielsen et al 2014;Glambek et al 2015;Berthelsen et al 2011) compared to colleagues not exposed to bullying. At the same time, common mental disorders (CMD) is a major reason for work disability across the OECD countries (OECD 2012).…”

Diagnosis-Specific Work Disability before and after Lumbar Spine Decompression Surgery—A Register Study from Sweden

“…In particular, mental co-morbidities (particularly CMDs, i.e., depressive and anxiety disorders) have been shown to significantly increase work disability when co-occurring with chronic pain [2,10] or triggering other negative clinical outcomes following lumbar spine surgery, ranging from low quality of life to higher mortality [26]. Moreover, work disability and CMDs have also been shown to be associated with an adverse psychosocial work environment, such as job strain, job insecurity, bullying and effort-reward imbalance [27,28]. In fact, mental diagnoses are, besides musculoskeletal diseases, the most common reason for work disability in patients who initially had SA due to LBP.…”

Mental Stress and Cardiovascular Health—Part I

“…Chronic mental stress refers to long-term, repetitive stress exposure. Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, loneliness, job-related stress, retirement, low socioeconomic status, and type A personality (e.g., competitive, aggressive, hostile) and type D (e.g., distressed, characterized by introversion and pessimistic emotions), are strongly linked to chronic stress, independent of established risk factors [ 23 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ]. Moreover, acute CV events increase the risk of chronic psychological stress, such as post-traumatic disorder, which in turn may result in recurrent CV disease [ 78 , 79 ].…”