Sickness absence due to mental health disorders--a societal perspective.
BACKGROUND
Sickness absence (SA) is affected by societal factors. Increasing socioeconomic stress may cause or worsen mental health disorders, which are among the most frequent causes of SA. Employees may also be more cautious about being absent, for example in times of poor economy.


OBJECTIVE
To monitor the incidence of SA due to mental health disorders in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2010.


METHODS
Descriptive observational study of long-term (> 3 weeks) SA available from an occupational health service register. The incidence of both total and mental health long-term SA in each year was calculated and evaluated alongside the changes in SA compensation policies, gross national product and national unemployment statistics. The incidence of mental health SA was stratified based on the economic (agricultural, industrial, private, public) sector.


RESULTS
The incidence of both total and mental health SA decreased gradually since 2004, and fell during the economic recession in 2009 in all economic sectors, particularly the agricultural and industrial sectors. The incidence of mental health SA increased with preliminary economic recovery in 2010 in the private and public sectors, but not in the agricultural and industrial sectors.


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term SA due to mental health disorders has decreased since 2004, but further studies across countries are required to confirm and explain this trend.
Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, PO Box 196, 9700 AD Groningen, The Netherlands. corne.roelen@365.nl
C A M
CA
Roelen
W
W
van Rhenen
P C
PC
Koopmans
U
U
Bültmann
J W
JW
Groothoff
J J L
JJ
van der Klink
D000041:Absenteeism; D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007221:Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017149:Private Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017150:Public Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends