Determinants of Sickness Absence and Return to Work Among Employees with Common Mental Disorders: A Scoping Review

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Abstract

Purpose To present an overview of the existing evidence on prognostic factors of (recurrent) sickness absence (SA) and return to work (RTW) among workers with a common mental disorder (CMD). This scoping review provides information about determinants for SA and RTW, which could be used to develop better interventions aimed at the prevention of SA and promotion of RTW among workers with a CMD. Methods Relevant articles were identified in PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, and SINGLE up to October 2016. In order to be included, studies should provide insight into prognostic factors of SA or RTW of workers with a CMD. We classified all factors according to the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Results Our searches identified 2447 possible relevant articles, of which 71 were included for data extraction. There is consistent evidence in ≥3 studies that previous episodes of CMD, higher symptom severity, previous absenteeism, co-morbidity, high job demands, low job control, high job strain, female gender, lower educational level, smoking behavior, and low perceived general health are predictors of SA in people with CMDs. Earlier RTW is consistently predicted by lower symptom severity, having no previous absenteeism, younger age, and positive expectations concerning sick-leave duration or RTW. Conclusions The amount of research on determinants for SA and RTW in workers with CMD has increased dramatically in recent years, although most studies are from the Netherlands and Scandinavia. There are some research gaps identified in this scoping review that need further attention in primary and secondary studies. Based on the summary of the evidence, we provide guidance for policy, practice and research.

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What are scoping studies? A review of the nursing literature.

Kathy Davis, Nick Drey, Dinah Gould (2009)

Scoping studies are increasingly undertaken as distinct activities. The interpretation, methodology and expectations of scoping are highly variable. This suggests that conceptually, scoping is a poorly defined ambiguous term. The distinction between scoping as an integral preliminary process in the development of a research proposal or a formative, methodologically rigorous activity in its own right has not been extensively examined. The aim of this review is to explore the nature and status of scoping studies within the nursing literature and develop a working definition to ensure consistency in the future use of scoping as a research related activity. This paper follows an interpretative scoping review methodology. An explicit systematic search strategy included literary and web-based key word searches and advice from key researchers. Electronic sources included bibliographic and national research register databases and a general browser. The scoping studies varied widely in terms of intent, procedural and methodological rigor. An atheoretical stance was common although explicit conceptual clarification and development of a topic was limited. Four different levels of inquiry ranging from preliminary descriptive surveys to more substantive conceptual approaches were conceptualised. These levels reflected differing dimensional distinctions in which some activities constitute research whereas in others the scoping activities appear to fall outside the remit of research. Reconnaissance emerges as a common synthesising construct to explain the purpose of scoping. Scoping studies in relation to nursing are embryonic and continue to evolve. Its main strengths lie in its ability to extract the essence of a diverse body of evidence giving it meaning and significance that is both developmental and intellectually creative. As with other approaches to research and evidence synthesis a more standardized approach is required.

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Meta-synthesis of qualitative research on return to work among employees with common mental disorders.

Martin Nielsen, Jorunn M. Andersen, Svend Brinkmann (2012)

The purpose of this study was to investigate which opportunities and obstacles employees with common mental disorders (CMD) experience in relation to return to work (RTW) and how they perceive the process of returning to work. In addition, the study explores what characterizes an optimal RTW intervention and points to possible ways to improve future interventions for employees with CMD. A systematic literature search was conducted, and eight qualitative studies of medium or high quality published between 1995-2011 were included in this systematic review. The eight studies were synthesized using the meta-ethnographic method. This meta-synthesis found that employees with CMD identify a number of obstacles to and facilitators of returning to work related to their own personality, social support at the workplace, and the social and rehabilitation systems. The employees found it difficult to decide when they were ready to resume work and experienced difficulties implementing RTW solutions at the workplace. This study reveals that the RTW process should be seen as a continuous and coherent one where experiences of the past and present and anticipation of the future are dynamically interrelated and affect the success or failure of RTW. The meta-synthesis also illuminates insufficient coordination between the social and rehabilitation systems and suggests how an optimal RTW intervention could be designed.

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Workplace interventions to prevent work disability in workers on sick leave.

Myrthe van Vilsteren, Sandra van Oostrom, Henrica de Vet … (2015)

Work disability has serious consequences for individuals as well as society. It is possible to facilitate resumption of work by reducing barriers to return to work (RTW) and promoting collaboration with key stakeholders. This review was first published in 2009 and has now been updated to include studies published up to February 2015.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Haitze de Vries: 0031 50 3616682 , h.j.de.vries@umcg.nl

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Occup Rehabil

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Occup Rehabil

Title: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation

Publisher: Springer US (New York )

ISSN (Print): 1053-0487

ISSN (Electronic): 1573-3688

Publication date (Electronic): 4 October 2017

Publication date PMC-release: 4 October 2017

Publication date (Print): 2018

Volume: 28

Issue: 3

Pages: 393-417

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0407 1981, GRID grid.4830.f, Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, , University of Groningen, ; Hanzeplein 1, Postbus 30001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands

[2 ]ISNI 0000 0001 2220 0888, GRID grid.432860.b, Department of Evidence-based Occupational Health, Workplace Health Management, , Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), ; Berlin, Germany

Article

Publisher ID: 9730

DOI: 10.1007/s10926-017-9730-1

PMC ID: 6096498

PubMed ID: 28980107

SO-VID: 820b5d28-f44e-482c-b197-13f6160e57ee

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Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Occupational & Environmental medicine

Keywords: common mental disorders,sickness absence,return to work,prognostic factors,scoping review

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Occupational & Environmental medicine

Keywords: common mental disorders, sickness absence, return to work, prognostic factors, scoping review

Determinants of Sickness Absence and Return to Work Among Employees with Common Mental Disorders: A Scoping Review

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Most cited references 93

What are scoping studies? A review of the nursing literature.

Meta-synthesis of qualitative research on return to work among employees with common mental disorders.

Workplace interventions to prevent work disability in workers on sick leave.

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