TY - JOUR
T1 - Mental illness rates among employees with fixed-term versus permanent employment contracts
T2 - a Danish cohort study
AU - Hannerz, Harald
AU - Burr, Hermann
AU - Nielsen, Martin Lindhardt
AU - Garde, Anne Helene
AU - Flyvholm, Mari Ann
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Purpose: It has been hypothesized that employment in a fixed-term instead of permanent contract position is associated with an increased risk of development of mental health problems. The present study aimed at estimating rate ratios between fixed-term and permanent employees in the Danish labor force, for use of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disorders, respectively. Methods: Employment data were drawn from the Danish Labor Force Survey of 2001–2013, which is a part of the European Labor Force Survey. Full-time employed survey participants without mental illness at the baseline interview (N = 106,501) were followed in national health registers for up to 5 years. Poisson regressions were used to estimate rate ratios for redeemed prescriptions of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric hospital treatments due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease. The analyses were controlled for age, gender, industrial sector, nighttime work, level of education, calendar year, disposable family income and social transfer payments within 1 year prior to the baseline interview. Results: The rate ratio for hospital diagnosed mood, anxiety or stress-related disorders among employees with fixed-term vs. permanent employment contracts was estimated at 1.39 (99.5% CI 1.04–1.86), while the corresponding rate ratio for redeemed prescriptions of psychotropic drugs was estimated at 1.12 (99.5% CI 1.01–1.24). Conclusion: The present study supports the hypothesis that employment in a fixed-term rather than permanent contract position is associated with an increased risk of developing mental health problems. International registered report identifier (IRRID): DERR2-10.2196/24392.
AB - Purpose: It has been hypothesized that employment in a fixed-term instead of permanent contract position is associated with an increased risk of development of mental health problems. The present study aimed at estimating rate ratios between fixed-term and permanent employees in the Danish labor force, for use of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disorders, respectively. Methods: Employment data were drawn from the Danish Labor Force Survey of 2001–2013, which is a part of the European Labor Force Survey. Full-time employed survey participants without mental illness at the baseline interview (N = 106,501) were followed in national health registers for up to 5 years. Poisson regressions were used to estimate rate ratios for redeemed prescriptions of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric hospital treatments due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease. The analyses were controlled for age, gender, industrial sector, nighttime work, level of education, calendar year, disposable family income and social transfer payments within 1 year prior to the baseline interview. Results: The rate ratio for hospital diagnosed mood, anxiety or stress-related disorders among employees with fixed-term vs. permanent employment contracts was estimated at 1.39 (99.5% CI 1.04–1.86), while the corresponding rate ratio for redeemed prescriptions of psychotropic drugs was estimated at 1.12 (99.5% CI 1.01–1.24). Conclusion: The present study supports the hypothesis that employment in a fixed-term rather than permanent contract position is associated with an increased risk of developing mental health problems. International registered report identifier (IRRID): DERR2-10.2196/24392.
KW - Cohort study
KW - Fixed-term employment
KW - Permanent employment
KW - Psychiatric hospital treatment
KW - Psychotropic drugs
U2 - 10.1007/s00420-022-01936-7
DO - 10.1007/s00420-022-01936-7
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36416975
AN - SCOPUS:85142437970
SN - 0340-0131
VL - 96
SP - 451
EP - 462
JO - International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
JF - International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
ER -