[Mobbing and its effects on health. the experience of the "Clinica del Lavoro Luigi Devoto" in Milan].

BACKGROUND

There is increasing interest in research, prevention and management of mobbing in the field of occupational psychosocial risks.

OBJECTIVES

To describe mobbing and its health effects by analysis of the cases examined from 1997 to 2003 at the Department of Occupational Health "Clinica del Lavoro Luigi Devoto" in Milan.

METHODS

A total of 226 clinical records of patients who reported a mobbing situation when undergoing medical examination were selected out of 2455 patients examined for stress-related disorders.

RESULTS

The percentage of women was higher (53.1%) than in men (46.9%) with a prevalent age range of 35-54 years. There was a great variety of jobs, especially white-collars and workers in large service companies. In one third of the cases, mobbing occurred within 4 years from beginning of employment and mostly after company reorganization and management changes. The most frequent negative acts included social isolation and demotion. The most frequent symptoms were exhaustion, sleep, mood and sexual disorders. The number of symptoms was not related to the duration of mobbing but to the number and frequency of negative actions. 61.1% of the subjects took psychotropic drugs. Occupational health physicians play an essential role in primary prevention (information on occupational risks) and in early diagnosis and rehabilitation and could act as mediators between workers and enterprises.