Depressed employees may be better off at work than at home

Date: Sep-12-2014A new Australian study suggests rather than calling in sick and taking time off,

depressed employees might find staying at work helps them better manage their illness.

In the study, depressed employees who took sickness absence experienced no improved health or quality of life, whereas those who continued to work experienced health benefits.

Researchers from the University Of Melbourne, in collaboration with a team from the Menzies

Research Institute at the University of Tasmania, report their findings in the journal PLOS

ONE.

In their background information, they note previous research shows that while working through

a depressive illness can improve mental health, it can raise risks and costs due to fatigue,

poorer concentration and reduced job performance.

But what if, with good management, it was possible for employees with depression not only to

benefit themselves, but also their employers by staying at work rather than taking sickness

absence? This is where there is a big hole in the evidence base, say the authors, who set out to

plug it.

Their study is the first to attempt to put into figures the estimated long-term costs and

health outcomes of taking sick leave as opposed to continuing to work through depression-related

illnesses.

Lead author Dr. Fiona Cocker, from Melbourne's School of Population and Global Health, says

you can't expect to make recommendations to workers and employers without such information.

Study used 'hypothetical cohort' approach

For the study the researchers did not use "real" workers but an approach that is sometimes

used in this type of investigation called the "hypothetical cohort." This is a method that

amasses features and characteristics typical of the target population (workers with depressive

illnesses) from published studies and meta-analyses, and then uses a model to produce "results"

under certain conditions.

A key component of this study was to define absenteeism (when the sick employee does not

attend work for the duration of the illness episode) and "presenteeism" (when the sick employee

continues to work for the duration of the illness) as mutually exclusive.

The data plugged into the model included probabilities and costs associated with seven

different "health states" that members within the hypothetical 1,000-employee cohort might be

expected to experience over the time horizon covered by the study (in this case, the researchers

calculated figures for 1- and 5-year timescales).

These costs, included, where relevant, "lost productive time, job turnover, and health

service use costs," note the researchers.

Much of the data on probabilities and costs came from a primary Australian epidemiological

data source, the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2007). From this source, the

team was also able to make some assessments about "subtle quality-of-life differences in areas

including mental health."

Depressed employees do not improve when off sick, but working ones do

What they found is that depressed employees who took sickness absence experienced no improved

health or quality of life, whereas those who continued to work experienced certain health

benefits.

They also found there were differences in the figures depending on whether the employees were

white collar (office workers) or blue collar (manual workers), as Dr. Cocker explains:

"Cost associated with depression-related absence and attending work while depressed were also

found to be higher for white collar workers who also reported poorer quality of life than blue

collar workers."

The researchers believe the findings are important not only for employers and employees, but

also for GPs and other health care professionals providing support and advice on whether it would

be better to continue working or stay at home during a depressive illness.

Mental health strategies should consider promoting continued working

Dr. Cocker says the findings indicate that "future workplace mental health promotions

strategies should include mental health policies that focus on promoting continued work

attendance via offering flexible work-time and modification of tasks or working

environment."

Having a daily routine and the support of co-workers could be one way that workplace programs

and alterations can improve the long-term health and wellbeing of employees with depressive

illnesses, she notes.

The researchers suggest their findings may also be useful for making recommendations

concerning workers with other health conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

Medical News also recently learned how a new approach could revolutionize the care of depression in cancer patients, raising

hope for the nearly three quarters of depressed cancer patients who do not receive any form of

treatment for their depression.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

View all articles written by Catharine, or follow her on:

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.