Mental health in the workforce: an occupational psychiatric study

Prevalence of mental disorders at work is commonly reported on the subclinical level. Data on clinical caseness as to ICD-10 among employees is scarce.

(i) To establish the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in the Danish workforce in large enterprises based on a self-report measure. (ii) To verify the screening results by use of a structured diagnostic interview. (iii) To analyze associations with demographics and work- and health-related characteristics.

A two-phase design study was carried out in three Danish counties. Ten large enterprises within private and public sectors participated. A questionnaire was administrated to 1,500 employees. The Present State Examination (PSE) interview was conducted with selected respondents according to their scores on Symptom Checklist 90-revised (SCL-90R) and CAGE.

Nine hundred and seventy six (65%) employees responded. A large proportion (28.6%) was identified as sub-cases and 77 as cases as to ICD-10. Absenteeism and work dissatisfaction were associated with ICD-10 diagnoses.

Common mental disorders caseness as to ICD-10 provides evidence for the clinical nature of occupational mental health phenomena. There were strong associations between some demographic and work- and health-related factors.