Construction workers struggle with a high prevalence of mental distress, and this is associated with their pain and injuries.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to investigate how mental distress was associated with pain and injuries in a convenience sample of construction workers.


METHODS
A cross-sectional, mental health assessment was conducted in a convenience sample of construction workers (N = 172). A subsample participated in a clinical interview (n = 10). We used a cutoff (1.50 or greater) on Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 to determine substantial mental distress and determined associations with pain and injury outcomes.


RESULTS
The prevalence of substantial mental distress was 16% in the workers. This was supported by follow-up clinical interviews where 9 of 10 workers fulfilled the criteria for a mental disorder. Substantial mental distress was associated with both injury rate and self-reported pain.


CONCLUSIONS
This pilot study strongly suggests the need for rigorous studies on construction worker mental health and how it affects their work and well-being.
From the Harvard School of Public Health (Drs Jacobsen, Caban-Martinez, Sorensen, Dennerlein, and Reme and Ms Onyebeke), Northeastern University (Dr Dennerlein), and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dr Sorensen), Boston, Mass; Uni Health (Dr Reme), Uni Research, Bergen, Norway; and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Dr Jacobsen), Trondheim, Norway.
Henrik Borsting
HB
Jacobsen
Alberto
A
Caban-Martinez
Lynn C
LC
Onyebeke
Glorian
G
Sorensen
Jack T
JT
Dennerlein
Silje Endresen
SE
Reme
D000328:Adult; D060389:Construction Industry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009511:New England; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires