Occupational exposure factors for mental and behavioral disorders at work: The FOREC thesaurus

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Psychiatry
• Public Health

Background:

• Mental disorders in the workplace represent a significant public health concern.
• Understanding the psychosocial work environment's impact is crucial for occupational physicians to identify risks and prioritize actions.
• Currently, no standardized classification exists for occupational exposure factors related to mental health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive thesaurus of "Organizational, Relational, Ethical and other Contributing Factors" (FOREC) associated with mental and behavioral disorders in the workplace.
• To provide a standardized terminology for describing and encoding occupational exposure factors.
• To facilitate the identification of specific workplace prevention programs.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary working group, including representatives from key French occupational and public health organizations, collaboratively developed the FOREC thesaurus.
• A multicenter study was conducted to test the thesaurus in clinical practice.
• Workers referred for work-related mental health issues had contributing factors identified and coded retrospectively from their perspective using the FOREC thesaurus.

Main Results:

• 323 workers were recruited, with generalized anxiety disorders and moderate depressive episodes being the most common diagnoses.
• An average of 4.2 contributing factors were identified per worker, totaling 1357 factors.
• Relational (42.4%) and organizational (37.9%) factors were the most frequently identified categories, all of which were successfully coded within the thesaurus.

Conclusions:

• The developed "Organizational, Relational, Ethical and other Contributing Factors" (FOREC) thesaurus is the first of its kind for profiling mental and behavioral disorders at work.
• Standardized encoding and description of exposure factors using shared terminology will enhance the identification of targeted workplace prevention programs.
• The FOREC thesaurus offers a valuable tool for occupational physicians and public health professionals to better understand and address mental health challenges in the workplace.