Job Strain -- Attributable Depression: Contribution to Health Inequalities
Job Strain -- Attributable Depression: Contribution to Health Inequalities
Background: The broad aim of this study was to assess the contribution of job strain to mental health inequalities by (a) estimating the proportion of depression attributable to job strain (low control and high demand jobs), (b) assessing variation in attributable risk by occupational skill level, and (c) comparing numbers of job strain–attributable depression cases to numbers of compensated 'mental stress' claims.
Methods: Standard population attributable risk (PAR) methods were used to estimate the proportion of depression attributable to job strain. An adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) of 1.82 for job strain in relation to depression was obtained from a recently published meta-analysis and combined with exposure prevalence data from the Australian state of Victoria. Job strain exposure prevalence was determined from a 2003 population-based telephone survey of working Victorians (n = 1101, 66% response rate) using validated measures of job control (9 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.80) and psychological demands (3 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.66). Estimates of absolute numbers of prevalent cases of depression and successful stress-related workers' compensation claims were obtained from publicly available Australian government sources.
Results: Overall job strain-population attributable risk (PAR) for depression was 13.2% for males [95% CI 1.1, 28.1] and 17.2% [95% CI 1.5, 34.9] for females. There was a clear gradient of increasing PAR with decreasing occupational skill level. Estimation of job strain–attributable cases (21,437) versus "mental stress" compensation claims (696) suggest that claims statistics underestimate job strain–attributable depression by roughly 30-fold.
Conclusion: Job strain and associated depression risks represent a substantial, preventable, and inequitably distributed public health problem. The social patterning of job strain-attributable depression parallels the social patterning of mental illness, suggesting that job strain is an important contributor to mental health inequalities. The numbers of compensated 'mental stress' claims compared to job strain-attributable depression cases suggest that there is substantial under-recognition and under-compensation of job strain-attributable depression. Primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention efforts should be substantially expanded, with intervention priorities based on hazard and associated health outcome data as an essential complement to claims statistics.
Job stress is a risk factor for a range of adverse effects on health, including major contributors to the overall burden of disease in developed countries, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and depression. Previous estimates of the proportion of various diseases attributable to occupational exposures have been made by combining population-based exposure prevalence data with estimates of exposure-related increases in specific disease risks taken from epidemiologic studies, yielding exposure-specific 'population attributable risks' (PAR). PAR is the proportion of disease cases attributable to the exposure in question, or the fraction of disease cases that would not have been observed if the exposure was non-existent.
Previous PAR estimates for job stress have utilized Karasek and Theorell's demand-control measures of job stress in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. We found only one estimate of job stress-related PAR for depression, from a Finnish study. Using the prevalence estimates for job strain of 19% for men and 23% for women, this study estimated that 14.6% of deaths related to 'depressive episodes' among men and 9.8% among women were attributable to job strain. While a focus on mortality in work-related PAR estimation may be suitable for CVD and cancer, morbidity estimates would be more useful for mental illness. A recent WHO global quantitative risk assessment initiative generated integrated morbidity and mortality disease burden estimates (disability-adjusted life years) for selected occupational risk factors and associated disease outcomes, but these did not include psychosocial working conditions or mental health outcomes.
In the present study, we seek to extend previous work by estimating PAR for depression, and examining variation in job strain exposure and associated attributable disease risk across occupational skill levels as a measure of social class. We have focused on depression because it is a growing contributor to the general burden of disease, and is the most prevalent form of mental illness in developed countries. Examination of exposure and related disease patterns by occupational level contributes to the growing awareness and investigation of psychosocial and other working conditions as important contributors to health inequalities.
Background: The broad aim of this study was to assess the contribution of job strain to mental health inequalities by (a) estimating the proportion of depression attributable to job strain (low control and high demand jobs), (b) assessing variation in attributable risk by occupational skill level, and (c) comparing numbers of job strain–attributable depression cases to numbers of compensated 'mental stress' claims.
Methods: Standard population attributable risk (PAR) methods were used to estimate the proportion of depression attributable to job strain. An adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) of 1.82 for job strain in relation to depression was obtained from a recently published meta-analysis and combined with exposure prevalence data from the Australian state of Victoria. Job strain exposure prevalence was determined from a 2003 population-based telephone survey of working Victorians (n = 1101, 66% response rate) using validated measures of job control (9 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.80) and psychological demands (3 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.66). Estimates of absolute numbers of prevalent cases of depression and successful stress-related workers' compensation claims were obtained from publicly available Australian government sources.
Results: Overall job strain-population attributable risk (PAR) for depression was 13.2% for males [95% CI 1.1, 28.1] and 17.2% [95% CI 1.5, 34.9] for females. There was a clear gradient of increasing PAR with decreasing occupational skill level. Estimation of job strain–attributable cases (21,437) versus "mental stress" compensation claims (696) suggest that claims statistics underestimate job strain–attributable depression by roughly 30-fold.
Conclusion: Job strain and associated depression risks represent a substantial, preventable, and inequitably distributed public health problem. The social patterning of job strain-attributable depression parallels the social patterning of mental illness, suggesting that job strain is an important contributor to mental health inequalities. The numbers of compensated 'mental stress' claims compared to job strain-attributable depression cases suggest that there is substantial under-recognition and under-compensation of job strain-attributable depression. Primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention efforts should be substantially expanded, with intervention priorities based on hazard and associated health outcome data as an essential complement to claims statistics.
Job stress is a risk factor for a range of adverse effects on health, including major contributors to the overall burden of disease in developed countries, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and depression. Previous estimates of the proportion of various diseases attributable to occupational exposures have been made by combining population-based exposure prevalence data with estimates of exposure-related increases in specific disease risks taken from epidemiologic studies, yielding exposure-specific 'population attributable risks' (PAR). PAR is the proportion of disease cases attributable to the exposure in question, or the fraction of disease cases that would not have been observed if the exposure was non-existent.
Previous PAR estimates for job stress have utilized Karasek and Theorell's demand-control measures of job stress in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. We found only one estimate of job stress-related PAR for depression, from a Finnish study. Using the prevalence estimates for job strain of 19% for men and 23% for women, this study estimated that 14.6% of deaths related to 'depressive episodes' among men and 9.8% among women were attributable to job strain. While a focus on mortality in work-related PAR estimation may be suitable for CVD and cancer, morbidity estimates would be more useful for mental illness. A recent WHO global quantitative risk assessment initiative generated integrated morbidity and mortality disease burden estimates (disability-adjusted life years) for selected occupational risk factors and associated disease outcomes, but these did not include psychosocial working conditions or mental health outcomes.
In the present study, we seek to extend previous work by estimating PAR for depression, and examining variation in job strain exposure and associated attributable disease risk across occupational skill levels as a measure of social class. We have focused on depression because it is a growing contributor to the general burden of disease, and is the most prevalent form of mental illness in developed countries. Examination of exposure and related disease patterns by occupational level contributes to the growing awareness and investigation of psychosocial and other working conditions as important contributors to health inequalities.