title: The prevalence and impact of depression in self-referred clients attending an employee assistance program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence and characteristics of clients with depression attending an employee assistance program (EAP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Anonymized data were obtained from 10,794 consecutive clients, including 9105 employees, self-referred to PPC Canada, a large, external EAP. Assessment measures included the self-rated nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Clinical characteristics of depressed clients (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) were compared with those of nondepressed clients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven percent of the employee sample met PHQ-9 criteria for clinically significant depression. Compared with clients without depression, they had significantly higher rates of anxiety, psychotropic medication use, problem substance use, global problems with functioning, absenteeism, impairment in work-related tasks, and low job satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A large proportion of EAP clients were clinically depressed with associated negative effects on personal and occupational functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. r.lam@ubc.ca
authors.forename: Raymond W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolinsky
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kinsella
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Paula M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Cayley
authors.forename: Anne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs