Psychosocial work environment and antidepressant medication: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Adverse psychosocial work environments may lead to impaired mental health, but it is still a matter of conjecture if demonstrated associations are causal or biased. We aimed at verifying whether poor psychosocial working climate is related to increase of redeemed subscription of antidepressant medication.

Methods: Information on all antidepressant drugs (AD) purchased at pharmacies from 1995 through 2006 was obtained for a cohort of 21,129 Danish public service workers that participated in work climate surveys carried out during the period 2002-2005.

Job strain and ischemic heart disease: a prospective study using a new approach for exposure assessment.

Background: Prolonged psychosocial load at the workplace may increase the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD), but the issue is still unsettled. We analyzed the association between psychosocial workload and risk of IHD using a new approach allocating measures of psychosocial load to individuals based on the average exposure level in minor work units.

Methods: Cohort study of 18,258 Danish public service workers in 1106 work units; 79% were women; 108 subjects with history of cardiovascular disease were excluded from the follow-up.

Sickness absence and workplace levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions at public service workplaces.

Background: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of psychosocial work conditions on sickness absence while addressing methodological weaknesses in earlier studies.

Methods: The participants were 13,437 employees from 698 public service workplace units in Aarhus County, Denmark. Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions was rated on a scale from 0 (low) to 10 (high).

Global measure of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions versus measures of specific aspects of psychosocial work conditions in explaining sickness absence.

Background: Attempts to identify particular aspects of psychosocial work conditions as predictors of sickness absence remain inconclusive. A global measure has previously been suggested to be an efficient way to measure psychosocial work conditions in questionnaires. This paper investigates whether satisfaction with specific aspects of psychosocial work conditions explains sickness absence beyond its association with a global measure of psychosocial work conditions.