Publications by authors named "Jaakko Harkko"

Objectives: This study aimed to examine (i) if work-to-family conflicts (WtFC) and family-to-work conflicts (FtWC) are associated with sickness absence due to mental disorders and (ii) whether these associations are different among health and social care (HSC) employees compared to other municipal employee sectors.

Methods: The Helsinki Health Study survey data collected in 2017 among 19-39-year-old female municipal employees (N=2557) were prospectively linked to administrative Social Insurance Institution of Finland register data on long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders (SA-MD) covering a follow-up of up to five years. The associations of WtFC and FtWC and SA-MD were analyzed using Cox regression models stratified by employment sector (HSC, education, other), adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related covariates.

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Background: Context including the external context may considerably affect the adoption, implementation, sustainment, and scale-up of evidence-based practices. We investigated external contextual features by conducting a scoping review of empirical research regarding the implementation of an evidence-based psychiatric or mental health vocational rehabilitation service called Individual Placement and Support (IPS).

Methods: The protocol for the scoping review was registered with the Open Science Framework.

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Retirement years are ideally spent in good health. We aimed to produce new information using person-oriented methods by identifying groups of statutory retirees who did or did not achieve this objective and the factors that distinguish these groups from each other. Our particular focus was on the years directly after the transition into retirement, and the pre-retirement factors that explained the development of health, using a more severe health-related outcome-hospitalization.

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Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are prevalent in older people, but few studies focus on developmental patterns in CVD medication directly after transition to statutory retirement. We thus aimed to identify trajectories of CVD medication after retirement, and their sociodemographic, work and health-related determinants.

Methods: We used complete register data of former employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland.

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Studies examining occupational class differences in burnout symptoms across employment sectors are scarce. The aim of this study was to examine whether occupational class is associated with emotional exhaustion, and whether there are differences in the examined associations between employment sectors. A further aim was to examine to which extent psychosocial working conditions may explain these associations.

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Objective: An intervention was carried out at the occupational healthcare services (OHS) of the City of Helsinki beginning in 2016. We investigated the association between the intervention and employee sick leaves using interrupted time series analysis.

Design: Register-based cohort study with a quasi-experimental study design.

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The associations between adverse working conditions and mental disorders are well established. However, associations between adverse working conditions and poor mental health functioning is a less explored area. This study examines these associations among younger public sector employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland.

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This study aimed to examine the associations of perceived physical and mental working conditions with subsequent antidepressant medication purchases among 18-39-year-old municipal employees. Survey data collected in 2017 among employees of the City of Helsinki (n=5897, response rate 51.5%) were linked to register data on psychotropic medication purchases (82% gave permission to register linkage).

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Objectives: We examined whether frequent short-term sickness absence (FSTSA) and primary care use in occupational health service (OHS) were associated with medically-certified long-term sickness absence (LTSA) due to mental disorders among young employees.

Methods: We used record-linkage data covering the young employees (< 35 years) of the City of Helsinki, Finland (n = 8,282) from 2010 to 2014. The outcome was LTSA due to mental disorders.

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Mental health problems are a major public health and work-life issue. We examined in a quasi-experimental design whether occupational health psychologist (OHP) appointment reduces subsequent sickness absence (SA) due to mental disorders among younger Finnish employees. The present study was conducted among 18-39-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki using register data from the City of Helsinki and the Social lnsurance Institution of Finland.

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Occupational health service (OHS) is the main provider of primary care services for the working population in Finland. We investigated whether socioeconomic differences in the utilization of OHS predict sickness absence (SA) due to mental disorders. We used register linkage data covering the employees of the City of Helsinki aged 18-34 years ( = 6545) and 35-54 years ( = 15,296) from 2009 to 2014.

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Objectives: To identify groups of municipal employees between the ages of 20 and 34 years with distinct utilisation trajectories of primary care services provided by occupational health service (OHS), measured as the annual number of OHS visits, and to identify demographic and socioeconomic risk factors that distinguish employees in the high utilisation trajectory group(s).

Methods: The present study is a retrospective register-based cohort study. All municipal employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland, aged 20-34 in the Helsinki Health Study, recruited from 2004 to 2013, with follow-up data for 4 years were included in the study (n=9762).

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Introduction: Depression is a highly prevalent condition with typical onset in early adulthood. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) is a promising cost-effective and more widely available alternative to face-to-face CBT. However, it is not known whether it can reduce sickness absence in employees showing depressive symptoms.

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Background: Unemployment in early adulthood is associated with higher rate of disability due to common mental disorders (CMDs). We investigated to what extent the association between unemployment and sub-sequent long-term sickness absence due to CMDs is direct or whether it is dependent on accumulation of mental health problems and socioeconomic disadvantage.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, a population-based 60% sample of Finnish young adults born between 1983 and 1985 (N = 116 878) was followed up for the incidence of CMDs from 2006 to 2010.

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Background: We investigated whether social adversities (parents' receipt of income support and care placement) in adolescence were associated with the receipt of work disability pension (DP) in early adulthood. A further aim was to examine whether and to what extent individual educational attainment, labour market position and mental disorders during the period of transition to adulthood operate as underlying mechanisms in this relationship.

Methods: This was a nationwide cohort study of a 60% representative sample of Finnish young adults born between 1983 and 1985 with no prior DP at entry to the study ( N=116,788).

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