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Psychological approach of occupational health service to sick leave due to mental problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The effects of interventions by occupational health services on sick leave prompted by psychiatric disorders were examined with respect to intervention method and the number of sick leave days.

Methods

The intervention methods used by occupational health services were systematically reviewed by searching three databases and manual searching. A meta-analysis of the number of sick leave days comparing the intervention group [intervention + care as usual (CAU)] and control group (CAU alone) was performed. In addition, subanalyses were conducted for the duration until sick-listed workers’ return to work after sick leave (Subgroup 1) and the number of non-sick-listed workers’ total sick leave days (Subgroup 2).

Results

Ten studies were extracted and integrated, and the subjects were subsequently sorted into the intervention group (n = 434, 322, and 756 in subgroup 1, subgroup 2, and total, respectively) and control group (n = 413, 385, and 798 in subgroup 1, subgroup 2, and total, respectively). All studies employed an intervention method of problem-solving treatment or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups in subgroup 1 or 2. However, the combined intervention group had significantly fewer total sick leave days than the combined control group (mean difference −6.64 days, 95 % CI −12.68 to −0.59, I 2 = 0 %).

Conclusions

The combined study of sick-listed and non-sick-listed workers indicates occupational health services implement problem-solving treatment or CBT interventions, which can shorten total sick leave duration.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Yasuhito Hirai, Naoaki Sho, and Shun Suzuki for their help.

Conflict of interest

Shotaro Doki, Shinichiro Sasahara, and Ichiyo Matsuzaki declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Shotaro Doki

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Shinichiro Sasahara & Ichiyo Matsuzaki

  3. International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Ichiyo Matsuzaki

Authors
  1. Shotaro Doki
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  2. Shinichiro Sasahara
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  3. Ichiyo Matsuzaki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinichiro Sasahara.

Appendix

Appendix

Search strategies for each database

The search targets were the papers published from January 1, 2004 to April 29, 2014.

PubMed

((mental[All Fields] AND (“disease”[MeSH Terms] OR “disease”[All Fields] OR “disorders”[All Fields])) OR (sick[All Fields] AND leave[All Fields]) OR (“absenteeism”[MeSH Terms] OR “absenteeism”[All Fields])) AND ((occupational[All Fields] AND (“health”[MeSH Terms] OR “health”[All Fields]) AND (“physicians”[MeSH Terms] OR “physicians”[All Fields])) OR (occupational[All Fields] AND (“health”[MeSH Terms] OR “health”[All Fields]) AND services[All Fields]) OR (“psychotherapy”[MeSH Terms] OR “psychotherapy”[All Fields])) AND ((“random allocation”[MeSH Terms] OR (“random”[All Fields] AND “allocation”[All Fields]) OR “random allocation”[All Fields] OR “randomized”[All Fields]) AND controlled[All Fields] AND (“clinical trials as topic”[MeSH Terms] OR (“clinical”[All Fields] AND “trials”[All Fields] AND “topic”[All Fields]) OR “clinical trials as topic”[All Fields] OR “trial”[All Fields])) AND (“2004/01/01”[PDAT] : “2014/04/29”[PDAT]).

PsycINFO

((mental AND disorders) OR (sick AND leave) OR (absenteeism) OR (behavioral AND symptoms)) AND ((occupational AND health AND physicians) OR (occupational AND health AND services) OR (psychotherapy)) AND ((randomized AND controlled AND trial)).

Business source complete

((mental AND disorders) OR (sick AND leave) OR (absenteeism) OR (behavioral AND symptoms)) AND ((occupational AND health AND physicians) OR (occupational AND health AND services) OR (psychotherapy)) AND ((randomized AND controlled AND trial)).

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Doki, S., Sasahara, S. & Matsuzaki, I. Psychological approach of occupational health service to sick leave due to mental problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 88, 659–667 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-014-0996-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-014-0996-8

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