University of Queensland, Herston, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2010 Feb;44(2):151-61. doi: 10.3109/00048670903393605.
In Australia it has been estimated that mental health symptoms result in a loss of $ AU2.7 billion in employee productivity. To date, however, there has been only one study quantifying employee productivity decrements due to mental disorders when treatment-seeking behaviours are considered. The aim of the current paper was to estimate employee work productivity by mental health symptoms while considering different treatment-seeking behaviours.
A total of 60 556 full-time employees responded to the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to monitor the work productivity of employees for chronic and acute physical and mental health conditions. Contained within the questionnaire is the Kessler 6, a scale measuring psychological distress along with an evaluation of employee treatment-seeking behaviours for depression, anxiety and any other emotional problems. A univariate analysis of variance was performed for employee productivity using the interaction between Kessler 6 severity categories and treatment-seeking behaviours.
A total of 9.6% of employees have moderate psychological distress and a further 4.5% have high psychological distress. Increasing psychological distress from low to moderate then to high levels is associated with increasing productivity decrements (6.4%, 9.4% and 20.9% decrements, respectively) for employees in current treatment. Combining the prevalence of Kessler 6 categories with treatment-seeking behaviours, mean 2009 salaries and number of Australian employees in 2009, it is estimated that psychological distress produces an $ AU5.9 billion reduction in Australian employee productivity per annum.
The estimated loss of $ AU5.9 billion in employee productivity due to mental health problems is substantially higher than previous estimates. This finding is especially pertinent given the global economic crisis, when psychological distress among employees is likely to be increasing. Effective treatment for mental health problems yields substantial increases in employee productivity and would be a sound economic investment for employers.
在澳大利亚，据估计，心理健康症状导致员工生产力损失 27 亿澳元。然而，迄今为止，只有一项研究量化了考虑到治疗寻求行为时，精神障碍导致的员工生产力下降。本研究的目的是在考虑不同治疗寻求行为的情况下，通过心理健康症状来估计员工的工作生产力。
共有 60556 名全职员工对世界卫生组织健康和工作表现问卷做出了回应。该问卷旨在监测员工因慢性和急性身体和心理健康状况而导致的工作生产力。问卷中包含 Kessler 6 量表，用于衡量心理困扰程度，并评估员工因抑郁、焦虑和任何其他情绪问题而寻求治疗的行为。使用 Kessler 6 严重程度类别与治疗寻求行为之间的相互作用，对员工生产力进行单变量方差分析。
共有 9.6%的员工存在中度心理困扰，另有 4.5%的员工存在高度心理困扰。从低到中度再到高度的心理困扰增加与正在接受治疗的员工的生产力下降呈正相关（分别为 6.4%、9.4%和 20.9%）。将 Kessler 6 类别与治疗寻求行为、2009 年平均工资和 2009 年澳大利亚员工人数相结合，估计心理健康问题导致澳大利亚员工每年生产力损失 59 亿澳元。
由于心理健康问题导致的员工生产力损失 59 亿澳元，明显高于之前的估计。鉴于当前的全球经济危机，员工中可能出现心理困扰增加，这一发现尤其重要。有效的心理健康问题治疗会显著提高员工的生产力，并且对雇主来说是一项合理的经济投资。
