Depression in working adults: comparing the costs and health outcomes of working when ill.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Working through a depressive illness can improve mental health but also carries risks and costs from reduced concentration, fatigue, and poor on-the-job performance. However, evidence-based recommendations for managing work attendance decisions, which benefit individuals and employers, are lacking. Therefore, this study has compared the costs and health outcomes of short-term absenteeism versus working while ill ("presenteeism") amongst employed Australians reporting lifetime major depression.

Methods

Cohort simulation using state-transition Markov models simulated movement of a hypothetical cohort of workers, reporting lifetime major depression, between health states over one- and five-years according to probabilities derived from a quality epidemiological data so

SUBMITTER: Cocker F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4152191 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature