Work-related stress, reason for consultation and diagnosis-specific sick leave: How do they add up?

Anna-Maria Hultén, Kristina Holmgren and Pernilla Bjerkeli

PLOS ONE, 2023, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: Work-related stress is common in Western society and disorders associated with stress are often managed in primary health care. This study was set to increase the understanding of the relationship between reason for consultation, work-related stress and diagnosis-specific sick leave for primary health care patients. The longitudinal observational study included 232 employed non-sick listed patients at seven primary health care centres in Sweden. Of these patients, 102 reported high work-related stress, as measured with the Work Stress Questionnaire, and 84 were on registered sick leave within one year after inclusion. The study showed that, compared to those who did not report high work-related stress, highly stressed patients more often sought care for mental symptoms (60/102 versus 24/130), sleep disturbance (37/102 versus 22/130) and fatigue (41/102 versus 34/130). The risk for sick leave with a mental diagnosis within a year after base-line was higher among patients reporting high work-related stress than among those who did not (RR 2.97, 95% CI 1.59;5.55). No such association was however found for the risk of sick leave with a musculoskeletal diagnosis (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.22;1.37). Seeking care for mental symptoms, sleep disturbance and fatigue were associated with having a future mental sick leave diagnosis (p-values

Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0288751

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288751

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