2007). The increase in sickness absence due to common mental disorders (CMDs), in particular depression, Fedratinib manufacturer anxiety disorders, and stress-related disorders, is higher than for other disorders (Alexanderson and Norlund 2004; Vaez et al. 2007), and symptoms of depression and anxiety

have been shown to predict disability pension in Norway and Denmark (Mykletun et al. 2006; Bültmann et al. 2008). In the United Kingdom, sickness absence due to mental disorders is nowadays the major cause of sick leave, accounting for almost 40% of all sickness absence (Shiels et al. 2004). Few studies have investigated characteristics of sickness absence due to mental disorders (Hensing and Wahlstrom 2004). The most consistent finding was that women were more frequently sick-listed due to mental disorders than men. However, even though mental disorders are more common among women, sickness absence seems to be longer among male employees

with mental disorders than among female employees (Hensing et al. 2000; Laitinen-Krispijn and Bijl 2000). Vaez et al. (2007) found that 65% of the employees with long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders had high levels of sickness absence in the three following years. Although EPZ015938 molecular weight the recurrence rate of mental disorders is assumed to be high (Mueller et al. 1999; Crown et al. 2002; Keller 2002; Yonkers et al. 2003; Robinson and Sahakian 2008), the recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs has not yet been studied. Therefore, in this study we addressed the following research questions: 1. ZD1839 What is the recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs,

and the median time to recurrence?   2. Which determinants are related to the recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs?   Methods Study population and study design This study was based on a cohort consisting of 9,904 employees who have had an episode of sickness absence due to a medically certified CMD. The cohort was drawn from a population of employees working in the Dutch Post and Telecommunication company in the period 2001–2007. The total population consisted of 137,172 employees (62% men and 38% women). Approximately 70% of the employees worked in the Post company and 30% in the Telecommunication company. Their main work tasks included sorting, transport and delivery of mail, post office activities and back-office, technical, sales, information technology, and executive tasks. Data on sickness absence in the years 2001 through 2007 were collected retrospectively from the records of the ArboNed Occupational Health Services. The Medical Ethics Committee of the University Medical Center in Groningen informed us that ethical approval was not required because the data were CRT0066101 mouse analyzed in retrospect at group level.