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Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 1/2015

01-01-2015 | Original Article

Risk factors of recurrent sickness absence due to depression: a two-year cohort study among Japanese employees

Authors: M. Endo, T. Muto, Y. Haruyama, M. Yuhara, T. Sairenchi, R. Kato

Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Purpose

Depression has a high recurrence rate among employees. There have been few studies investigating risk factors for recurrent sickness absence due to depression after return to work (RTW). The objective of this study was to identify potential risk factors.

Methods

Subjects were 540 full-time employees at the biggest telecommunication company in Japan who returned to work from April 2002 to March 2008 after their first leave of absence due to depression. The Cox proportional hazard model was employed to find risk factors for recurrent sickness absence by analyzing variables including demographic, work-related and work environmental factors.

Results

Of 540 study subjects, 200 employees (37.0 %) experienced recurrent sickness absence due to depression after RTW within the follow-up period. Higher organizational job demand evaluated by the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) was found to be a risk factor (OR 1.46, 95 % CI 1.01–2.10) for recurrent sickness absence due to depression adjusted for confounding factors.

Conclusions

High organizational job demand (evaluated by BJSQ) is a risk factor for recurrent sickness absence due to depression after RTW.
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Metadata
Title
Risk factors of recurrent sickness absence due to depression: a two-year cohort study among Japanese employees
Authors
M. Endo
T. Muto
Y. Haruyama
M. Yuhara
T. Sairenchi
R. Kato
Publication date
01-01-2015
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health / Issue 1/2015
Print ISSN: 0340-0131
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1246
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-014-0939-4

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