title: Health, sleep, and professional career in female white-collar workers back to work after long-term sick-listing due to minor mental disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study is a 3-year follow up of female white-collar workers, who were on long-term sick leave in 2004 due to stress-related and minor mental disorders. The aim is to show what promotes return-to-work (RTW) and the impact of a long period of sickness absence on professional career.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study includes a cohort of 233 women who were currently on medically certified sick leave lasting ≥90 days in 2004. A postal questionnaire was sent out after 34 months, regarding self-rated health, quality of sleep, sick-listing status, occupational status, etc.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 34 months, 69% of the women had fully returned to working life. One of the most salient findings is that almost half of those had changed jobs and more than a third were in a new profession. Those who were back in working life rated less negative consequences of the long-term sick-listing on their professional career and their quality of sleep was better (OR 2.90, 95% CI 1.50-5.60 "sleeping all night"). Self-rated health did not show significant association with RTW (OR 2.83, 95% CI 0.91-8.77). Those who had returned to working life reported more control over their lives (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.01-3.88).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings imply that, in work health promotion and rehabilitation and efforts to prevent sickness absence due to stress-related disorders, important factors to be considered are job mobility, changes in present work, improved sleep, and control over one's own life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden. helene.sandmark@mdh.se
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sandmark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D017533:Marital Status; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008875:Middle Aged; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D057566:Self Report; D018582:Sick Leave; D012890:Sleep; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology