Sick leave duration as a potential marker of functionality and disease severity in depression
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13651501.2022.2054350 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2022.2054350 |
| Keywords | Absenteeism; depression; functionality; major depressive disorder; return to work; sick leave |
| Description | Objective: To discuss the impact of depression on work and how depression-related sick leave duration could be a potential indicator and outcome for measuring functionality in depression. Methods: Our review was based on a literature search and expert opinion that emerged during a virtual meeting of European psychiatrists that was convened to discuss this topic. Results: Current evidence demonstrates that depression-related sick leave duration is influenced by multiple disease-, patient- and work-related factors, together with societal attitudes towards depression and socioeconomic conditions. A wide variety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments and work-based interventions are effective in reducing depression-related sick leave duration and/or facilitating return to work. Recent real-world evidence showed that patients treated with antidepressant monotherapy appear to recover their working life faster than those receiving combination therapy. Although depression-related sick leave duration was found to correlate with severity of depressive symptoms, it cannot be used alone as a viable marker for disease severity. Conclusions: Given its multifactorial nature, depression-related sick leave duration is not on its own a viable outcome measure of depression severity but could be used as a secondary outcome alongside more formal severity measures and may also represent a useful measure of functionality in depression. |