A1414 Mental health complaints in relation to work functioning in Dutch nurses and allied health professionals

Monday, March 19, 2012
Ground Floor (Cancun Center)
Karen Nieuwenhuijsen, Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Fania Gärtner, Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Judith Sluiter, Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Introduction
Health care workers are at risk of developing mental health complaints. This study explores the prevalence of these complaints and the relation with work functioning in nurses and allied health professionals.

Methods
Baseline data of an RCT including 566 workers of one hospital were used. An online questionnaire assessed mental health complaints and work functioning. Mental health complaints was operationalized as scoring above cut-off points for one or more of the following (sub) scales: distress (4DSQ), work-related fatigue, (Need For Recovery), depression (BSI-D) , anxiety (BSI-A), or post traumatic stress disorder (IES). Work functioning was measured by seven job-specific aspects of impaired work functioning (NWFQ) and work productivity (Q-Q). The relationship of having any mental health complaint with work functioning was analyzed with logistic regression, t-tests, and spearman rho’s correlations.

Results
Half of the participants (50%) were classified as having a mental health complaint, proportions ranged from 12% for PTSD to 32% for work-related fatigue. Having any mental health complaint was related to six of the seven job-specific work functioning impairments; cognitive aspects of task execution (OR=2.9, CI=1.9-4.4), causing incidents (OR=1.8, CI=1.0-3.0), avoidance behavior (OR=4.0, CI=2.5-6.5), conflicts and irritations with colleagues (OR=8.0, CI=3.4-18.8), impaired contact with patients and their family (OR=2.6, CI=1.7-4.0), and lack of energy and motivation (OR=40, CI=5.5-291). No significant result was found for the effect of mental health complaints on impaired decision making (OR=0.8, CI=0.6-1.3). Participants with mental health complaints had lower work quantity and quality (mean 9.0 vs. 9.6; p<0.000 for both productivity measures) than healthy workers. All five types of mental health complaints were related to work functioning measures, with distress and work-related fatigue showing the highest (around r=0.4) and PTSD the lowest (around r=0.1) associations.

Discussion
Mental health complaints are highly prevalent in this population and are associated with job-specific work functioning impairments and lost productivity.

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