Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability
BackgroundSymptoms of anxiety and depression are very common among healthcare workers (HCWs) and could impact the quality of care.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of these disorders in a public health company and their association with work ability and work-related stress.Methods...
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AIMS Press
2024-12-01
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| Series: | AIMS Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/publichealth.2024063 |
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| author | Nicola Magnavita Igor Meraglia Matteo Riccò |
| author_facet | Nicola Magnavita Igor Meraglia Matteo Riccò |
| author_sort | Nicola Magnavita |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundSymptoms of anxiety and depression are very common among healthcare workers (HCWs) and could impact the quality of care.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of these disorders in a public health company and their association with work ability and work-related stress.MethodsA cross-sectional study involved 80 HCWs being treated for mental disorders (MD), 55 HCWs who said they suffered from MD but were not being treated, and 824 healthy colleagues. All workers completed the Work Ability Index (WAI), the Siegrist's Effort/Reward Imbalance questionnaire (ERI), the Goldberg's scales of anxiety and depression (GADS), and the Warr's scale of job satisfaction.ResultsThree-quarters of workers with MD suffered from anxiety and/or depression. Workers who declared at the periodic medical examination in the workplace that they were being treated for MD had significantly lower levels of work ability than those of their colleagues who declared good mental health. They also reported greater work stress (high effort, low rewards, high overcommitment) and lower job satisfaction than their healthy colleagues. Symptomatic but untreated workers reported significantly lower work ability, lower satisfaction, and greater occupational stress than their healthy colleagues. In the entire sample, there were many workers with symptoms of anxiety or depression who did not declare these disorders during the examination. Overall, there were 328 suspected cases of anxiety (34.2%) and 334 cases of depression (34.8%). Anxious workers [OR = 8.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.74–17.58] and depressed workers (OR = 4.49, 95% CI = 2.22–9.10) had an increased risk of being classified as having “poor work ability”.ConclusionThe negative association between psychological symptoms and work ability even in undiagnosed/untreated workers demonstrates the usefulness of screening for these symptoms in work environments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0e520a6887974876b4aa3a438d4e8db5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2327-8994 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | AIMS Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AIMS Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-0e520a6887974876b4aa3a438d4e8db52025-01-24T01:32:41ZengAIMS PressAIMS Public Health2327-89942024-12-011141223124610.3934/publichealth.2024063Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work abilityNicola Magnavita0Igor Meraglia1Matteo Riccò2Occupational Epidemiology and Health Unit, Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, ItalyOccupational Epidemiology and Health Unit, Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, ItalyPrevention and Safety Service in Workplaces (SPSAL), Local Sanitary Unit of Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, ItalyBackgroundSymptoms of anxiety and depression are very common among healthcare workers (HCWs) and could impact the quality of care.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of these disorders in a public health company and their association with work ability and work-related stress.MethodsA cross-sectional study involved 80 HCWs being treated for mental disorders (MD), 55 HCWs who said they suffered from MD but were not being treated, and 824 healthy colleagues. All workers completed the Work Ability Index (WAI), the Siegrist's Effort/Reward Imbalance questionnaire (ERI), the Goldberg's scales of anxiety and depression (GADS), and the Warr's scale of job satisfaction.ResultsThree-quarters of workers with MD suffered from anxiety and/or depression. Workers who declared at the periodic medical examination in the workplace that they were being treated for MD had significantly lower levels of work ability than those of their colleagues who declared good mental health. They also reported greater work stress (high effort, low rewards, high overcommitment) and lower job satisfaction than their healthy colleagues. Symptomatic but untreated workers reported significantly lower work ability, lower satisfaction, and greater occupational stress than their healthy colleagues. In the entire sample, there were many workers with symptoms of anxiety or depression who did not declare these disorders during the examination. Overall, there were 328 suspected cases of anxiety (34.2%) and 334 cases of depression (34.8%). Anxious workers [OR = 8.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.74–17.58] and depressed workers (OR = 4.49, 95% CI = 2.22–9.10) had an increased risk of being classified as having “poor work ability”.ConclusionThe negative association between psychological symptoms and work ability even in undiagnosed/untreated workers demonstrates the usefulness of screening for these symptoms in work environments.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/publichealth.2024063mental disordersovercommitmentjob satisfactionmental healthworkplace health promotioneffort/reward imbalancedisability managementcovid-19quality of caremedical surveillance |
| spellingShingle | Nicola Magnavita Igor Meraglia Matteo Riccò Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability AIMS Public Health mental disorders overcommitment job satisfaction mental health workplace health promotion effort/reward imbalance disability management covid-19 quality of care medical surveillance |
| title | Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability |
| title_full | Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability |
| title_fullStr | Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability |
| title_short | Anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability |
| title_sort | anxiety and depression in healthcare workers are associated with work stress and poor work ability |
| topic | mental disorders overcommitment job satisfaction mental health workplace health promotion effort/reward imbalance disability management covid-19 quality of care medical surveillance |
| url | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/publichealth.2024063 |
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