Human service work and long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders: a prospective study of gender-specific patterns in 1,466,100 employees.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate sickness absence due to mental disorders in human service occupations.

METHODS: Participants (n = 1,466,100) were randomly selected from two consecutive national 9-year cohorts from the Statistics Finland population database; each cohort represented a 33% sample of the Finnish population aged 25-54 years. These data were linked to diagnosis-specific records on receipt of sickness allowance, drawn from a national register maintained by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, using personal identification numbers.

RESULTS: Sociodemographic-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for sickness absence due to mental disorders in all human service occupations combined were 1.76 for men (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.70-1.84) and 1.36 for women (95% CI, 1.34-1.38) compared with men and women in all other occupations, respectively. Of the 15 specific human service occupations, compared with occupations from the same skill/education level without a significant human service component, medical doctors, psychologists, and service clerks were the only occupations with no increased hazard for either sex, and the HRs were highest for male social care workers (HR 3.02; 95% CI, 2.67-3.41).

CONCLUSIONS: Most human service occupations had an increased risk of sickness absence due to mental disorders, and the increases in risks were especially high for men.