Depression-induced absenteeism in relation to antihyperlipidemic treatment: a study using GAZEL cohort data

We examined the relation between overall 1-year exposure to diet and drugs prescribed for hyperlipidemia and the occurrence of medically certified absence from work with depression during the year of exposure (N = 289). The 17,244 persons studied are middle-aged employees of a national company who volunteered as cohort participants. Depression was more prevalent among those exposed to an antihyperlipidemic diet (N = 1,614) than among those unexposed. After stratification by sex and professional status, we found a prevalence ratio (PR) of 1.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.30-2.58]. Exposure to simvastatin (N = 376) produced comparable results, with a prevalence ratio of 2.18 (95% CI = 1.18-4.03). For subjects who were not cases in the year of exposure assessment, the hypolipidemic treatments are not associated with depression-induced absenteeism the following year. Our results point to a possible role of prescribed diet and simvastatin in depression-related absenteeism.