Using sickness absence records to predict future depression in a working population: prospective findings from the GAZEL cohort.

OBJECTIVES

We tested the hypothesis that sickness absence from work predicts workers' risk of later depression.

METHODS

Study participants (n = 7391) belonged to the French GAZEL cohort of employees of the national gas and electricity company. Sickness absence data (1996-1999) were obtained from company records. Participants' depression in 1996 and 1999 was assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. The analyses were controlled for baseline age, gender, marital status, occupational grade, tobacco smoking status, alcohol consumption, subthreshold depressive symptoms, and work stress.

RESULTS

Among workers who were free of depression in 1996, 13% had depression in 1999. Compared with workers with no sickness absence during the study period, those with sickness absence were more likely to be depressed at follow-up (for 1 period of sickness absence, fully adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.28, 1.82; for 2 or more periods, fully adjusted OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.61, 2.36). Future depression was predicted both by psychiatric and nonpsychiatric sickness absence (fully adjusted OR = 3.79 [95% CI = 2.81, 5.10] and 1.41 [95% CI = 1.21, 1.65], respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Sickness absence records may help identify workers vulnerable to future depression.