PurposeCommon mental disorders (CMDs) are an important cause of work disability. Although CMDs are known to have high recurrence rates, little is known about the recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs. This study examines the recurrence risk of sickness absence due to CMDs.MethodsA cohort of 9,904 employees with a sickness absence due to CMDs, working in the Dutch Post or Telecommunication company, was studied over a 7-year period. Recurrence was defined as the start of at least one new episode of sickness absence with CMDs after complete return to work for at least 28 days. The recurrence density (RD) of sickness absence with CMDs was calculated per 1,000 person-years.ResultsOf the 9,904 employees with a first absence due to CMDs 1,925 (19%) had a recurrence, 90% of recurrences occurred within 3 years. The RD of sickness absence due to CMDs was 84.5 employees per 1,000 person-years (95% CI = 80.7–88.3). The RD of sickness absence due to CMDs was similar in women and in men. In men, depressive symptoms were related to higher recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs than distress symptoms and adjustment disorders. In women, no difference by diagnostic category was found.ConclusionsEmployees with a previous episode of sickness absence with CMDs are at increased risk of recurrent sickness absence with CMDs. Relapse prevention consultations are recommended for a period of 3 years after return to work.

No abstract

In the Netherlands, the incidence of sickness absence with common mental disorders was highest in 2004 and has decreased since then probably because of changes in sick leave compensation, economic market position and company policies.

Objective: Cancer survival has improved in recent years, but data on return to work (RTW) after cancer are sparsely published. Therefore, this study analysed RTW after cancer.Methods: Employees diagnosed with breast cancer, genital cancer, gastro-intestinal cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, or blood malignancies were selected from an occupational health register. Sickness absence was followed for 2 years after diagnosis and full RTW at equal earnings as before sickness absence was assessed for each cancer site using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis stratifying for age and gender.Results: 3701 (73%) of 5074 employees with cancer had full RTW after a median duration of 290 days. Employees with lung cancer had the longest duration of sickness absence and only 45% of them had full RTW 2 years after diagnosis compared with 88% of employees with genital cancer and 87% of employees with skin cancer. Age was associated with the time to full RTW among employees with genital cancer: women agedX35 years had a longer time to full RTW compared with womeno35 years and men agedX55 years had a longer time to full RTW compared with meno35 years. Gender was associated with the time to full RTW among survivors of blood malignancies with women having a longer time to full RTW than men.Conclusions: Most employees had full RTW within 2 years after the diagnosis of cancer and the time to RTW was largely independent of age and gender.

Effort-reward imbalance was associated with frequent short sickness absence episodes among nurses. Work efforts and rewards ought to be potentially considered when managing nurses who are frequently absent from work as these factors can be dealt with by managers.

Objective There is no information on the duration of absence of depressed Dutch workers. The aim of this study was to determine the duration of sickness absence due to depressive symptoms in the working population. Methods In this observational study of 15% of the Dutch working population, all absence episodes (n = 9,910) starting between April 2002 and November 2005 diagnosed as depression were selected. For these episodes, KaplanMeier survival curves were computed. Results The mean (and median) duration of sickness absence due to depressive symptoms was 200 (179) days in men and 213 (201) days in women. In both sexes, older employees had longer absence durations. Depressive symptoms had an estimated rate of chronicity (1 year of absence) of 24%. Employees in educational and public services (232 days in men and 242 days in women), commercial services (213 days in men and 219 days in women) and health care (212 days in men and 214 days in women) had the longest mean duration of absence with depressive symptoms.Men in the industrial sector (189 days) had the shortest absence periods. Employees in large sized companies (188 days in men and 208 days in women) had shorter absence episodes as compared to companies with less than 75 employees (214 days in men and 226 days in women). Conclusions Workers with depressive symptoms were absent for a long time. Explanations for the long duration are discussed. It is recommended to develop and apply tools for recognizing employees at risk for chronic depression.

Purpose To investigate return to work (RTW) in employees sick-listed with mental disorders classified according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Methods Sickness absences (SA) medically certified as emotional disturbance (ICD-10 R45) or mental and behavioral disorders (ICD-10 F00-F99) were retrieved from an occupational health service register. RTW was associated with age, gender, and socioeconomic position (SEP) by parametric survival analysis. Results Emotional, neurotic, somatoform, stress-related, and mood disorders encompassed 94 % of all mental SA. Employees with emotional disturbance had the highest RTW rates: after 1 year 95 % had resumed work and after 2 years 98 % compared to 89 and 96 % of employees with neurotic, somatoform and stress-related disorders, and 70 and 86 % of employees with mood disorders. The probability of RTW decreased after 1 month of SA due to emotional disturbance, 2 months of SA with neurotic, somatoform and stress-related disorders, and 3 months of SA with mood disorders. Women resumed their work later than men. Young employees presenting with emotional disturbance, neurotic, somatoform, and stress-related disorders had earlier RTW than older employees and low-SEP employees had earlier RTW than high-SEP employees. Conclusions RTW rates and probabilities differed across categories of mental disorders. Age and SEP were associated with RTW of employees with emotional, neurotic, somatoform, and stress-related disorders, but not with RTW of employees experiencing mood disorders. To maximize the likelihood of RTW, a focus on RTW is important in the first months after reporting sick with mental disorders.

Introduction Sickness absence is a major public health problem. Research on sickness absence focuses on interventions aimed at expediting return to work. However, we need to know more about sustaining employees at work after return to work. Therefore, this study investigated the recurrence of sickness absence according to diagnosis. Methods We analyzed the registered sickness absence data of 137,172 employees working for the Dutch Post and Telecom. Episodes of sickness absence were medically certified, according to the ICD-10 classification of diseases, by an occupational physician. The incidence density (ID) and recurrence density (RD) of medically certified absences were calculated per 1,000 person-years in each ICD-10 category. Results Sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders had the highest recurrence (RD = 118.7 per 1,000 person-years), followed by recurrence of sickness absence due to mental disorders (RD = 80.4 per 1,000 person-years). The median time to recurrent sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders was 409 days after the index episode. Recurrences of sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 37% of the total number of recurrent sickness absence days. For recurrences of sickness absence due to mental disorders this was 328 days and 21%, respectively. Unskilled employees with a short duration (<5 years) of employment had a higher risk of recurrent sickness absence. Conclusions Interventions to expedite return to work of employees sick-listed due to musculoskeletal or mental disorders should also aim at reducing recurrence of sickness absence in order to sustain employees at work.