title: The clinical and occupational correlates of work productivity loss among employed patients with depression.
abstract: Employers who are developing strategies to reduce health-related productivity loss may benefit from aiming their interventions at the employees who need them most. We determined whether depression's negative productivity impact varied with the type of work employees performed. Subjects (246 with depression and 143 controls) answered the Work Limitations Questionnaire and additional work questions. Occupational requirements were measured objectively. In multiple regression analyses, productivity was most influenced by depression severity (P < 0.01 in 5/5 models). However, certain occupations also significantly increased employee vulnerability to productivity loss. Losses increased when employees had occupations requiring proficiency in decision-making and communication and/or frequent customer contact (P < 0.05 in 3/5 models). The Work Limitations Questionnaire can help employers to reduce productivity loss by identifying health and productivity improvement priorities.
authors.affiliation: The Health Institute, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA. dlerner@tufts-nemc.org
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ernst R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Berndt
authors.forename: Julie T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Irish
authors.forename: Leueen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lapitsky
authors.forename: Maggie Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hood
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004526:Efficiency; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires