Abstract
During the years 1985–1987 all sick-leave spells exceeding 7 days, together with a number of demographic variables, were registered in a Swedish county. Using this register, the 3,100 employed persons with at least one sick-leave per year due to minor psychiatric morbidity were analysed with regard to age, occupation and sex. The annual cumulative incidence was 1.7% of the employed population. In 1985 the female incidence was 2.1% and the male incidence was 1.3%. Incidence was highest in the middle-aged. The mean number of absence days per sick-listed person was 73 in 1985. For women, the corresponding figure was 63 and for men, 82. Industrial occupations had the highest incidence and with few exceptions, women had a higher incidence than men in each occupation. Occupations were categorized into five groups according to the number of women and men employed. Women in extremely male-dominated occupations had the highest incidence of all groups, 4.6%. Men in extremely female-dominated occupations had the highest incidence of all men, 2.9%. Occupations with an equal sex distribution had the lowest sick-leave incidence, 1.2%. Further studies on the influence of sex integration on sickness absence need to be done.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Tellnes G (1989) Sickness certification in general practice: a review. Fam Pract 6: 58–65
Taylor P (1974) Sickness absence: facts and misconceptions. J R Coll Physicians Lond 8: 315–333
Hansson L, Borgquist L, Lindelöw G (1993) Cost of the mentally ill in Sweden (in Swedish). Socialmed Tidskr 6: 276–279
Socialstyrelsen (National Board of Health and Social Welfare) (1992) Folkhälsorapport, 1991: 11 (Public Health Report, 1991: 11). Stockholm
Bjurulf P, Johansson G, Ljungdahl L, Persson H, Levin J-E, Åstrand G (1990) Sjukskrivning i förhållande till diagnos och yrke 1985–1987 i Östergötlands län (Sickness absence in relation to diagnosis and occupation in the county of Östergötland, from 1985 to 1987) Department of Community Medicine Linköping
Tellnes G, Svendsen K-OB, Bruusgaard D, Bjerkedal T (1989) Incidence of sickness certification. Scand J Prim Health Care 7: 111–117
Jenkins R (1985) Minor psychiatric morbidity in employed young men and women and its contribution to sickness absence. Br J Ind Med 42: 147–154
Grunfeld B, Noreik K (1992) Long-term sickness absence in Oslo—a follow-up study (in Norwegian). Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 2 (112): 215–218
Tellnes G (1989) Duration of episodes of sickness certification. Scand J Prim Health Care 7: 237–244
North F, Syme SL, Feeney A, Head J, Shipley MJ, Marmot MG (1993) Explaining socioeconomic differences in sickness absence: the Whitehall II study. BMJ 306: 361–366
Popay J, Bartley M, Owen C (1993) Gender inequalities in health: social position, affective disorders and minor physical morbidity. Soc Sci Med 36: 21–32
Murphy JM, Olivier DC, Monson RR, Sobol AM, Federman EB, Leighton AH (1991) Depression and anxiety in relation to social status. A prospective epidemiologic study. Ach Gen Psychiatry 48: 223–229
Alexanderson K, Leijon M, Åkerlind I, Rydh H, Bjurulf P (1994) Epidemiology of sickness absence in a Swedish County in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Scand J Soc Med 1: 27–34
Folkhälsorapport för Östergötland 1993 (Public Health in Östergötland, report 1993). The County Council of Östergotland
Code-list for diagnoses used in ambulatory care. Based on the International classification of diseases (8th rev) (1977) Nordic Medico-statistical Committee Stockholm
Ljungdahl L, Bjurulf P (1991) The accordance of diagnoses in a computerized sick-leave register with doctor's certificates and medical records. Scand J Soc Med 19: 148–153
Nordisk Yrkesklassificering (1983) Nordic occupational classification (in Swedish). Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen, Stockholm
The Swedish Central Bureau of Statistics (1985) Folk- och Bostadsräkningen (FoB) (Official population and residence investigation). SCB, Örebro
Epstein AM, Taylor WC, Seage GR (1985) Effects of patients' socioeconomic status and physicians' training and practice on patient-doctor communication. Am J Med 78: 101–106
Schröder CAP (1993) The general practitioner's treatment of sick workers suffering from minor psychiatric illness. Abstract presented at the Fifth European Health Service Research Conference, Maastricht
Rutz W (1992) Evaluation of an educational program on depressive disorders given to general practitioners on Gotland. Short- and long-term effects. Dissertation, Department of Psychiatry, Linköping University
Nolen-Hoeksema S (1987) Sex differences in unipolar depression: evidence and theory. Psychol Bull 101: 259–282
Weissman MM, Leaf PJ, Holzer CE, Myers JK, Tischler GL (1984) The epidemiology of depression. An update on sex differences in rates. J Affective Disord 7: 179–188
Vogel J, Kindlund H, Diderichsen F (1992) Arbetsförhållanden, ohälsa och sjukfrånvaro 1975–1989 (Working conditions, illness and sickness absence in 1975–1989). Statistics Sweden
Angst J, Dobler-Mikola A (1984) Do the diagnostic criteria determine the sex ratio in depression? J Affective Disord 7: 189–198
Bernstein B, Kane R (1981) Physicians attitudes toward female patients. Med Care 6: 600–608
Leaf PJ, Livingstone-Bruce M (1987) Gender differences in the use of mental health-related services: a re-examination. J Health Soc Behav 28: 171–183
Kessler RC, Brown RL, Broman CL (1981) Sex differences in psychiatric help-seeking: evidence from four large-scale surveys. J Health Soc Behav 22: 49–64
Hall EM (1989) Gender, work control, and stress: a theoretical discussion and an empirical test. Int J Health Serv 19: 725–745
Braun S, Hollander RB (1988) Work and depression among women in the Federal Republic of Germany. Women Health 14: 3–26
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hensing, G., Alexanderson, K., Åkerlind, I. et al. Sick-leave due to minor psychiatric morbidity: role of sex integration. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 30, 39–43 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00784433
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00784433