[Work days lost due to health problems in industry]

Gender differences and disabilities of perceived depression in the workplace

BACKGROUND

Few studies have investigated gender difference and associated disability among workers. Comprehensive investigations concerning the occurrence and consequences of depression in workplace are scarce. The study aims to evaluate how workers perceive depression in workplace, as well as to examine depression-related disabilities by gender.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional web-based survey of 1000 Brazilian workers recruited from Internet sources. Participants answered an online questionnaire about depressive symptoms and related consequences in the workplace.

RESULTS

Common symptoms attributable to depression were crying, loss of interest, and sadness. Almost one in five (18.9%) participants reported had ever been "labeled" by a health professional as suffering from depression. However, the majority of ever-depressed workers (73.5%) remained working. Performance-related impairments were reported by around 60% of depressed workers who continued working. Over half of them also complained about cognitive symptoms (concentration difficulties, indecisiveness, forgetfulness), with men reporting more cognitive dysfunctions than women. One in three workers had taken off work due to depression (mean 65.7 out-of-role days), with these periods being lengthier for men than women.

LIMITATIONS

Some depressive events might have occurred before working age, since the participants have self-reported the diagnosis of health professionals in past timeframe. The representativeness of recruited workers was reliant upon the availability of Internet service.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that identification and management of symptoms of depression should be set as a priority in worker׳s health care. General and gender-related strategies to handle depression in the workplace are recommended.

Attitude and impact of perceived depression in the workplace

Information concerning the occurrence and consequences of depression in the workplace is scarce. This study estimates how workers perceive depression, to investigate depression-related disabilities, and management of depression in the workplace. This investigation is based on a cross-sectional web-based survey of 1,000 workers recruited from online sources. The participants were Brazilian workers, aged 16–64 years, current workers and managers, or who have worked within the past year. Subjects answered a 13-item questionnaire about depression, its related consequences in the workplace, and available resources to handle depression. Common symptoms attributable to depression were crying, loss of interest, and sadness. Almost one in five participants reported having ever been labeled by a doctor/medical professional as suffering from depression. However, the majority of ever-depressed workers (73.5%) remained working. Performance-related impairments were reported by around 60% of depressed workers who continued working. Over half of them also complained about cognitive symptoms (concentration difficulties, indecisiveness, forgetfulness). One in three workers had taken off work due to depression (mean 65.7 out-of-role days), with these periods being lengthier for men than women. Managers underestimated the number of days out-of-role (29.5 days). The findings suggested that identification and management of symptoms of depression should be set as a priority in worker’s health care.

Asthma and the socio-economic reality in Brazil

BACKGROUND

Asthma is a prevalent disease that is considered a health problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and socioeconomic characteristics of a cohort of asthmatics receiving specialized outpatient treatment in a tertiary/teaching public hospital in Brazil.

METHODS

Persistent asthmatics older than 5 years old were consecutively included. They received clinical treatment at 3- to 4-month intervals and were interviewed 2 times at 6-month intervals over a 12-month observation period. The data were collected directly from the patients or their parents by 2 researchers who did not participate in their clinical care. The primary variables were age, gender, education level, monthly family income, place of residence, number of lost days of school or work, BMI, the severity and control level of asthma, the number of scheduled and non-scheduled visits and hospitalization days and the best peak-flow measurement.

RESULTS

Of the 117 participants, 108 completed the study. Of the participants, 73.8% were women, and 25.0% lived outside the county. Of those who lived within the county, 60.1% lived in areas far from the health care unit. The majority (83.3%) had associated rhinitis, and more than 50.0% were overweight or obese, in whom the prevalence of severe asthma was greater (p = 0.001). The median monthly income was US$ 536.58 and was greater among the patients with controlled asthma (p = 0.005 and p = 0.01 at the start and the end of the study, respectively). In the initial evaluation, 16 participants had severe asthma, and in the final evaluation, 8 out of 21 patients with uncontrolled asthma had improved. Three-quarters of the students and half of the workers had missed days of school or work, respectively. The asthmatic population in this study had medium to low socioeconomic status in Brazil and socioeconomic status was associated with overweigth/obesity and with poor control of asthma.

CONCLUSION

Asthma has a great impact on absenteeism in Brazil. Lower monthly family income and body weight above the ideal level were associated with greater severity and worse control of asthma.

Days out-of-role due to common physical and mental health problems: results from the São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey, Brazil

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the relative importance of common physical and mental disorders with regard to the number of days out-of-role (DOR; number of days for which a person is completely unable to work or carry out normal activities because of health problems) in a population-based sample of adults in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil.

METHODS

The São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey was administered during face-to-face interviews with 2,942 adult household residents. The presence of 8 chronic physical disorders and 3 classes of mental disorders (mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders) was assessed for the previous year along with the number of days in the previous month for which each respondent was completely unable to work or carry out normal daily activities due to health problems. Using multiple regression analysis, we examined the associations of the disorders and their comorbidities with the number of days out-of-role while controlling for socio-demographic variables. Both individual-level and population-level associations were assessed.

RESULTS

A total of 13.1% of the respondents reported 1 or more days out-of-role in the previous month, with an annual median of 41.4 days out-of-role. The disorders considered in this study accounted for 71.7% of all DOR; the disorders that caused the greatest number of DOR at the individual-level were digestive (22.6), mood (19.9), substance use (15.0), chronic pain (16.5), and anxiety (14.0) disorders. The disorders associated with the highest population-attributable DOR were chronic pain (35.2%), mood (16.5%), and anxiety (15.0%) disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

Because pain, anxiety, and mood disorders have high effects at both the individual and societal levels, targeted interventions to reduce the impairments associated with these disorders have the highest potential to reduce the societal burdens of chronic illness in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area.