Have you ever wondered why some people struggle to return to work after being sick for a long time? For many, the answer lies in their mental health. This study looked at patients in Sweden who had been on sick leave and found that those dealing with severe anxiety and low quality of life were often stuck in a cycle of poor work ability. With many reporting high levels of exhaustion and depression, it’s clear that mental health plays a crucial role in their recovery. The findings highlight that improving mental well-being could be vital for these individuals to regain their work capacity and overall happiness. However, it’s important to note that while mental health is linked to work ability, it didn’t seem to affect how long people were on sick leave. This suggests that while addressing mental health is essential, other factors also need attention. Moving forward, focusing on mental health support and rehabilitation could pave the way for better outcomes for those struggling to return to work.
Struggling to Work? Your Mental Health Might Be the Key to Recovery.
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What this means for you:
Boosting mental health is crucial for those on long-term sick leave to regain work ability and improve quality of life. What this means for you:
Boosting mental health is crucial for those on long-term sick leave to regain work ability and improve quality of life. View Original Abstract ↓
OBJECTIVE: To examine characteristics of primary healthcare patients with long-term impaired work ability, and to assess the correlation between sense of coherence and factors related to health, function, and work ability.
DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study including patients from the LEARN-to-COPE cluster-randomized controlled trial, conducted across 40 primary care centers in Region Västra Götaland, Sweden.
SUBJECTS: Primary healthcare patients with recurrent or long-term sick leave or health-related unemployment ( = 243).
DATA COLLECTION: Sick leave data were collected from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Demographics and contextual data were patient-reported or retrieved from personal identity numbers. Symptoms, health-related quality of life, health literacy, sense of coherence, perceived work ability, and lifestyle were assessed using validated questionnaires.
RESULTS: Mean age was 47.4 years. Most were women born in a Nordic country, had at least secondary education, and were gainfully employed. A third was unemployed. Mean number of sick days was 1,215 (SD 1,010), and 67.9% were on full-time sick leave. Perceived work ability was low. Participants reported severe anxiety and exhaustion, moderate depression, and a high risk of long-term sick leave due to pain. Health-related quality of life was extremely low. Half reported inadequate or problematic health literacy, and sense of coherence was low. Smoking and obesity were common, physical activity levels were average, and excessive alcohol consumption was below average. About half participated in any rehabilitation activities. Sense of coherence was significantly correlated with health literacy, health-related quality of life, symptoms of mental illness, perceived work ability, and pain (all < 0.001); but not with sick leave duration or participation in rehabilitation.
CONCLUSION: Given participants' pronounced suffering, improving health-related quality of life among primary healthcare patients with long-term impaired work ability should be prioritized. Sense of coherence was associated with several determinants of sick leave, but not with its previous duration.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: clinicaltrials.gov NCT04254367.